plus, how much money do you think a perfect cow is worth? well, this one is the bovine version of best in show and you've got to hear how much someone paid for her. hey, there, thanks for having us over this is hln. i'm virginia cha.

president obama landed in china this morning. he met russian president at an international summit in singapo singapore. and the president said things look good. >> my first meeting when we traveled to moscow. our two countries to begin reducing our stockpiles. made progress over the last several months and our goal continues to be to complete the negotiatations and be able to sign a deal before the end of the year and i'm confident that if we work hard and with a sense of urgency about it, we should be able to get that done. >> president oobalma and the russian leader also talked about iran. time is running out for tehran to do something about its nuclear program. the u.s. and russia will keep pushing iran diplomatically and

there are other options if that fa fails, but he didn't offer any details. president barack obama couldn't bring home the olympics, but he's bringing some tourism to his home state. the united states will host the apec summit in hawaii in 2011. the host gets to dictate what the guests wear. the president says he looks forward to seeing the other leaders decked out. some guantanamo bay detainees could be transferred to this prison in northern illinois. two obama administration official os tell cnn that federal officials will viz that thompson correctional center tomorrow about 150 miles west of chicago. described the president's state of the art and virtually empty. the obama administration promised to close guantanamo by january 22nd, but it's having trouble meeting that deadline. we now know after many months in office that there aren't nations out there going to take these

200 detainees or so left in guantanamo and the idea of relocating these prisoners in the united states is a reality that the oobama administration is confronting. >> a republican lawmaker from chicago is already saying that would invite terrorist attacks on illinois. and obama administration officials say a prison would be even more secure than the nation's only supermax prison. police in north carolina have charged the mother of a missing 5-year-old girl with human trafficking. she's shown here alongside a man who is accused of kidnapping the child. authorities still don't know where she is. last thursday they arrested davis' boyfriend, but have since dropped kidnapping charnels against clarence coe.

president obama is asking lawmakers to hold off on any investigations into the ft. hood shooting. he says they should wait until law enforcement and the military finish their investigations first. he also asked lawmakers to not turn this event into what he called political theater. >> if there was a possibility to take legal action before the shootings, there must be accountable. beyond that and must address any flaws in the system so that we can prevent a similar breach from happening again. our government must be able to act swiftly and surely when it has threatening information and the troops must have the security they deserve. >> lawmakers want to look into e-mails between nidal malik hasan and a clerical in yemen. the fbi knew about them, but concluded that hasan had no links to terrorism. meanwhile, family and friends said their final good-byes to six victims of the

shootings. funerals five soldiers and one civilian were held in several states yesterday. one funeral was in elwood, illinois. >> reporter: old glory hangs suspended between two joliet ladder trucks and catherine brought her own. she didn't know michael peterson. she watched from across the street. >> it's sad, really, to see things happen to young guys when they try to serve the country and then it goes bad. >> reporter: family and friends of michael pierson said good-bye this afternoon. the ceremony inside the home was private. illinois governor pat quinn among those inside. >> his mom and dad, you could tell, no words in the english language or any language to ease the pain of knowing someone from when they were born. >> reporter: 1 of 13 soldiers

killed last week in ft. hood. pearson was shot three timed and the alleged gunman, one of the army's very own. >> it's a shame. 13 people killed. for what? >> reporter: the service lasted just over an hour, after which the processional moved to the abraham lincoln national cemetery where michael pearson was laid to rest with full military honors. immediately after, michael's brother, christopher, thanked the entire chicagoland community. >> there wasn't a single moment throughout this past week that did not touch me. and that's all i can say. i'm sorry. >> reporter: because of his love of music, the pearson family is working to establish a scholarship in michael's honor. michael pearson was 22 years old. reporting from elwood, wgn news. two more victims of a suspected serial killer were laid to rest yesterday. they were among 11 women whose

bodies were found in a house of cleveland. fbi agents worked with rakes and shovels to see if any more bodies might be in anthony's backyard. he is in jail facing murder, rape and other charges. he used drugs and alcohol to lure women to his home and then strangle them. the governor of virginia visited areas of his state that were hit hard by a nor'easter. governor tim kaine assured victims he would push for federal money to help them recover and also try to free up some state funds, as well. nearly eight inches of rain drenched the coastal city of norfolk. officials are waiting for flood waters to recede to assess the full damage. the powerful storm battered new jersey for a third straight day yesterday. that didn't help people who were trying to clear flooded roads and repair storm damage. that storm is blamed for at least six deaths in three states. you could call it a beauty contest and you can best someone is really proud of the winner.

>> when you look at missy, she has a lot of style a lot of presence, she knows she's pretty. >> miss y is a cow and is as perfect as cows get.

how much do you think the perfect cow is worth? well, here she is. her name is missy. she's considered to be as perfect as a cow can get. she lives in canada where she was just sold for 1.2 million u.s. dollars. what makes her so special? well, you can hear it from this guy. >> missy has a combination of a deep pedigree, a great family behind her. she has a great milk production. she also has a lie genetic index and she also is one of the best show cows in the breed. >> there you ge. missy will stay in canada even though her buyers are from the u.s. and denmark.

one of only five cows ever sold for more than a million dollars. blame it on friday the 13th because the day's bad luck apparently made bruce springsteen forget where he was. the boss shouted hello, ohio! to his fans friday night but he was actually in michigan. he referred to ohio several times in the following 30 minutes until the guitarist whisperred in his ear. i'm larry smith. 6 1/2 weeks ago usc runningback suffered a bizarre injury. he lost control of the bar while bench pressing suffering a crushcrush ed larynx that had 17 hours of surgery. he spoke for the first time since repeating the words that his dying grandfather whispered to him. >> god has a plan, run, stephon, run.

he may not ever play again by the way. tiger woods has a victory to go along with the 3 million appearance fee. he entered the day tied in a three-way tie for first place, but tiger comes away with the win. his seventh victory of the year and dawns the gold jacket. the crowd said because of his appearance, 20,000 made it feel like a major, even though it was not. one of the winningest quarterbacks resides right now in austin, texas. his name is colt mccoy and he ties david green, the former georgia quarterback for the most wins ever in a career. he has a chance to break that here in the final weeks of the season. two touchdowns for him as texases remains undefeated with a win over baylor. beware of the game crews to entertain the masses. this guy thinks he is blindfolded and will jump rope while blindfolded. much to his surprise he realizes that the gag is on him and when

he realizes it, he is not happy. look, come on. come on. we all laughed at it. why aren't you laughing? lighten up. that's sports. this weekend following veterans day, we are reminded it is important to say thank you to our troops. for one woman that is a full-time job called operation gratitude. robin meade has the incredible story of this breakthrough women. >> reporter: carolyn blashick is a one woman uso. she is on a mission to bring smiles to the men and women serving our country. >> non-profit organization that brings care packages. >> reporter: she was inspired by a soldier she met in 2003. >> didn't know what he was like and i thought to myself, i need to let him and every service member know that people at home care about them. she started sending care

packages to the troops out of her home. >> within a few weeks my home was literally covered from floor to ceiling with items that people have donated. >> reporter: she recruited volunteers and now holds packaged drives in an armory outside l.a., which even draws celebrity. >> your heart is in the right place, you find a whole lot of people would love to help. >> reporter: in six years she shipped close to 500,000 packages. >> absolutely unbelievable what one woman could do. it's infectious. >> reporter: she even traveled to iraq it hand deliver the 300,000th one. so, just how hard is it to live without health insurance? one woman has four jobs and, believe it or not, she can't get coverage that she can afford and one of her employers isn't sure he can help.

defense secretary robert gates has blocked the release of any new photos showing americans abusing foreign detainees. gates is using his new powers provided by law signed last month. there are 21 pictures showing americans abusing detainees in iraq and afghanistan. the aclu sued to have them released and lower courts supported that, but gates says the release would put u.s. citizens and service members in danger. construction of the aircraft carrier gerald r. ford got its official kickoff. that carrier is named for the former president, of course. is the first in the new ford class of carriers. ford's daughter was at the ceremony and declared it.

senators may start debating a new health care bill this coming week, but just down the street from capitol hill, you can see how the issue is really affecting people. elaine quijano is talking to one worker who is taking a chance with one worker and a boss who is trying to help her. >> you're thinking about 8 by 10. >> reporter: 58-year-old carrie coldwell -- >> don't have any health insurance. >> reporter: she worked and payed into an employer-sponsored health care plan but the economic downturn suddenly left coldwell without a job and health insurance. at first she tried paying for health care herself, but without her employer picking up half the cost, she found insurance out of reach. >> that's a lot to me. $343 a month when you don't have a steady income is like saying $3,000 a month. i just plain didn't have that kind of money.

>> reporter: so she suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol is doing without three of the four medications she needs. >> i don't know what my blood pressure is and i don't want to know. >> reporter: she works four part-time jobs, but doesn't have health insurance from any of them. one of her bosses, john winetrob, wants to change that. >> we don't know if we can afford to put her on the plan. >> reporter: as a small business owner, he says politicians haven't done a good job explaining how health care legislation might benefit him and, in turn, his staff of 50 employees. >> we can't understand it it's the big thing. don't understand what is truly going on. >> reporter: winetrob says the health care plan he offers employees went up this year, costing 30% more than last year. that has affected his bottom line and his ability to help his staff, including carrie. >> i'm doing everything i can

do, how can the system help me live like a normal person and have the health care i need. >> reporter: now for now, she's taking a major gamble, forgoing that expensive medicine for her diabetes, a disease she knows full well can lead to blindness, kidney disease, amputation or stroke. >> i'm living on borrowed time now and this situation isn't helping that, you know. i feel good, but i don't know, i don't know what the future holds. >> that was elaine quijano reporting. by the way, president obama says he wants a new health care bill on his desk by the end of the year, that is less than seven weeks away. iran is creating a new cyberpolice unit to crack down on internet crime. the new force will monitor websites looking for what one official calls fraud, insalts and the spreading of lies. the opposition movement in iran which relies heavily on the web to spread its message.

authority ban most websites of the opposition, but new websites spring up within days. it seems a spected vandal who is plastering los angeles for months with hundreds of stickers is no juvenile delinquent. he is 73 years old. the oldest alleged tagger busted by sheriff deputies. they caught him sticky handed, so to speak, friday, when he slapped on who is jon scott stickers in a subway station. jon scott was arrested and charged with felony vandalism. they believe his motive is to fame and notoriety. a secret society linked to two former presidents has long been rumored to have the skull of an indian warrior. geronimo's descendants have more proof of a 100-year-old crime.

hundreds of people marked a somber anniversary at marshall university in west virginia. 39 years ago yesterday a plane crash killed most of the school's football team in what is now an annual event a are headed nual event a

to a much colder climate here in the u.s. plus -- >> the care and the love that is coming from home to remind us, please come home. >> and how you can lift the spirit of some of our troops fighting overseas. hello, i'm holly firfer.

we learned where some of the terror suspects held at the guantanamo bay detention center may go when they are transferred to the u.s. for trial. this prison in northern illinois is a leading contender to house those detainees. 150 miles west of chicago in the small town of thompson. illinois governor pat quin described it as state of the art. they offered the facility as an alternative to gitmo and the illinois senator found it doable. it would provide thousands of jobs. >> we have a chance to bring more than 2,000 good-paying jobs with benefits to this region. jobs that are going to reward the people who go to work with paychecks that they're going to take home and spend in their communities, paychecks that are going to help create businesses, communities that are going to grow with more schools, more hospitals, more libraries, opportunities that you just don't see.

>> now, a republican lawmaker from chicago claims that transfer would invite terrorist attacks on illinois. now, there have not been any terrorist attacks on guantanamo bay in the eight years the detainees have been held there. an administrative official says the thompson prison would be even more secure than the super max federal prison in colorado. a stunning new development in the disappearance of 5-year-old shaniya davis. police have charged her mother with human trafficking. antoinette davis is also filed charges with prostitution and filing a false report. they say mario mcneill is the suspect captured on a hotel video carrying the girl into a room the day she was reported missing. authorities still don't know where the girl is. last wednesday they arrested davis' boyfriend but dropped kidnapping charges against

clarence coe. bay area police are still looking for an 18-month-old child who has been missing since his mother was killed early friday. searchers scoured equatic park in berkeley looking for desean williams. his mother's body was found in that park. police are holding curtis martin in connection with the woman's death. is possible the child was with her, but they haven't seen him in a couple weeks. >> every time you want to see the baby, there was some kind of excuse. >> some kind of excuse. something was keeping the baby away or somebody had the baby or just something. >> when she told me she hadn't seen the baby in two weeks. she said he was with curtis. >> now, police say the suspect has an extensive criminal history and served six years for killing a child. the economic summits are over, but president obama will still be talking money in the latest stop of his tour of asia. he arrived in shanghai today and

during his time in china, president obama will discuss trade issues with chinese president hu jinao. the president also plans to take a side trip to the great wall. earlier today he met with russia's president in sing pore and they were there for two economic forums. the leaders are working on replacing a treaty to reduce nuclear arms that is set to expire next month. >> in our first meeting when i traveled to moscow, we arrived at an understanding that has made sense for our two countries to begin reducing, further our nuclear stockpiles. our negotiators have made excellent progress over the last several months. our goal continues to be to complete the negotiations and to be able to sign a deal before the end of the year. and i'm confident that if we work hard and with sense of urgency about it, that we should

be able to get that done. >> the president has arranged for the united states to host the apec summit in hawaii in 2011. that means he will get to dictate what guests wear for the summit's official picture. in singapore leaders wore traditional mandarin colored shirts. mr. obama is looking forward to seeing the other leaders decked out in flowered shirts and grass skirts. for the first time in history, 1 billion people around the world are facing starvation. so, the united nations has created a high-tech way to help. the u.n.'s world food program launched this online campaign called billion for a billion and it's stamping out hunger. now, here's the idea. if a billion internet users donated $1 a week, the lives of 1 billion people around the world could be changed. on the right side of the page a string of numbers representing what happened since the page was loaded. you can see millions of e-mails sent, thousands of facebook updates and thousands of dollars spent on pet food.

you can also see the number of children who have died of hunger within just the last few seconds. go to wfp.org/1billion. you can see it for yourself. which hazel? sounds more like the name of an alternative rock band than a beauty product, but one your great-grandmother might have used and now a company that makes it is trying to generate a turn around in its popularity. here's christine romans. >> reporter: what's flowing through this tube? witch hazel. in the early days wood from witch hazel shrubs was harvested with horses and distilled the old-fashioned way and still harvested where witch hazel grows wild, but it is distilled in this high-tech facility. the mission of ed jackowitz.

his son credits him with this family company. >> his vision was to be the best in the world in manufacturing. >> reporter: american distilling was doing well, selling its witch hazel in bulk for other brands. everything from facial cleansers to hemorrhoid cream. then his son joined the company eight years ago and set out to transform the old brand into something fresh and modern. same product, updated image. >> we are the best in the world at producing this product and now our goal is to be the best in the world at marketing this product. >> reporter: first stop, running the old image past today's consumer. >> when we showed them the package, oh, my god, i don't want to put that on my face. that doesn't look like a skin care product. >> reporter: the look changed and so did the language. it's no longer an estringent it's now a pore protector. a new ad campaign reflects the new branding. >> removes what cleansers don't. >> we realized double-digit

growth for almost every year since i've been here. the future i envision for this company is expanding the team we have for marketing and sales bringing more professionals in and really adding more fuel to the fire. >> reporter: the company plans to build a new warehouse, bringing this 19th century health and beauty staple to a 1 21st century regimen.

the obama administration is defending its controversial decision to hold civilian trials for suspected 9/11 terrorists including cureek shake mohammed. david axelrod tells cnn justice will be done. but former new york mayor rudy giuliani says putting the suspect on trial in new york puts the city's residents at risk. an attorney experienced in civil and military law says a civilian

trial will lead to evdenshiary hurdles you won't see in a military tribunal. >> the rules of evidence are juggernaut even for seasoned defense attorneys. if we're looking for something like a confession, the standard for admitting a confession in a civil trial is that it must be voluntary and the defendant must be advised of their rights. are any of us to be believed when they were softening up khalid shaikh mohammed at the same time reading him his mor d moranda rights? we know that didn't happen. that will create a road block as far as getting confessions. family members of the 9/11 victims are also deeply divided over the prospect of a civilian trial. some say they're optimistic that justice will be done, but others say bringing the terror suspects to new york will cause unbearable pain. they say a military tribunel is more appropriate. >> bringing khalid shaikh

mohammed and putting him in a civilian trial is absolutely the wrong thing to do. by doing this, you're taking his actions out of the realm of being an act of war fare and calling it a crime. this was not a crime. this was far beyond a crime. this is an act of warfare. >> i trust my justice system, the constitution which has been enforced in the last 20 or 30 years and i my son was murdered here and i want to see them go to trial here and i want to attend each and every single day. a stunning new development in the disappearance of 5-year-old shaniya davis. police in fayetteville, north carolina, have charged her mother with human trafficking. antoinette davis faces a child abuse charge. she is shown here alongside a man police have charged with kidnapping the child. they say mario mcneill is the suspect captured on a hotel surveillance video carrying the girl into a room the day she was reported missing.

authorities still don't know where the girl is. last thursday, they arrested davis' boyfriend, but have since dropped kidnapping charges against clarence coe. bay area police are still looking for an 18-month-old child who has been missing since his mother was killed early friday. searchers scour equatic park in berkeley looking for desean williams. his mother's body was found in that park. police are holding curtis martin in connection with the woman's death. her family and friends say it is possible the child was with her, but they haven't seen him in a couple weeks. >> every time you want to see the baby, there's some kind of excuse. >> some kind of excuses. if something was keeping the baby away or somebody had the baby or just something. >> she told me she hasn't seen the baby in two weeks. >> police say the suspect has an extensive criminal history and served six years for killing a child.

teens on chicago's deadly streets are neighborhood beefs worth dying over? a peace summit brought together two gangs. many gang members blame their ongoing feud for sparking a brawl that killed darrion albert back in october. stop the violence and start talking. >> to me, it's hard. they're gang banging and everybody shoot and hustling. you know what i'm saying? people doing a little bit of everything. you have to find out where you fit in. i dotook a step, you know. >> organizers for the summit say they had to get the teens out of the environment to get them to talk. wow, it is going to take months to clean up this mess on a mountain road in southeastern tennessee.

two separate rockslides in a single day dumped at least 12,000 cubic yards of granite and quartz but work crews will shore up the mountainside to make sure there are not any more rockslides. we just got his reporters of the scene. he tells us "it's hard to put into words the magnitude of the slide." now, during the cleanup, the highway will remain closed and that will force people to detour as much as 100 miles around that bottle neck. the governor of virginia visited areas of a state hit hard by a nor'easter. governor tim kaine assured storm victims he would push for federal money to help them recover. he also said he would try to free up some state funds, as well. nearly eight inches of rain drenched the coastal city of norfolk. they're waiting for flood waters to recede before they assess

that damage. the powerful storm battered new jersey for a third straight day yesterday and that didn't help people who were trying to clear flooded roads and try to repair storm damage. the storm is blamed for six deaths in three states. tlc for the troops. soldiers and moms team up to let american forces in iraq and afghanistan know we're thinking of them.

our ireporters catch a lot of great stories and sometimes they show us how we can make a difference in someone's life. now cnn reporter chris morrow talked to one soldier as he helped a group of moms in california send a little tlc to troops serving in afghanistan and iraq. >> i get a lot of awes and, oh, i really needed something like this or this is so great and, of course, we realize the effort that goes into packing the

boxes, the expense of mailing these overseas, but it's the care and the love that's coming from home to remind us, please, come home. let's go pack a box. we have magazines. batteries, these are a big hit. cards to send home. how about some movies and some music. our female soldiers will love this. shower shoes, very important. never leave home without your shower shoes. i don't know why, but some guys really like the sardines. the army moves on coffee. have to have your coffee. >> every soldier needs some jerky. the best. >> great to carry on patrol. got to have your beef jerky and with your movie you have to have popcorn. my box is full now, but, as you've been able to see from all the various assortment of items that are here, that there are

cameras and cookies and chips and just, you know, body lotion, body powder, brushes, toothbrushes and so many things and each box is different. so, none of them are the we're ready to pack this box up and send her out. something here. says dear soldier, i'm writing to tell you that we thank you and love you, you are the best. please come home safe, love -- and it looks like it's from william. >> i encourage all people, especially young ones or those who aren't able to serve for whatever reason to get involved in some kind of volunteer or community action to support our military, to support our troops that are overseas. they deserve it. they work hard. when they come home, there's a lot of transitional things that go on. so again, for our soldiers overseas, get involved.

it's part of our country. it's what makes us great. >> and if you'd like to help out, you can go to the blue star mothers website at bluestarmothers.org. and you can find a list of chapters close to you. and once again, we want to say thanks to i-reporter chris morrow for that great report. when you have images of breaking news or cool stories from your part of the world, head to i-report.com, click on the upload now link and you'll find easy instructions there. construction of the aircraft carrier gerald r. ford got its official kickoff yesterday with a teal laying ceremony. the carrier was named for the former president and the first in a new ford class of carriers. ford's daughter, susan ford bails was at thor money. it is scheduled for delivery in 2015. the price of fame can be high, but the price of being infamous even higher.

wait until you hear how much bidders were willing to pay for items related to convicted swindler bernie madoff.

the mother of a missing girl charged with human trafficking. and it's not the only crime she's accused of. but still no sign of 5-year-old shaniya davis. now some of these suspected terrorists could be headed to a much colder climate here in the u.s. plus -- >> the care and the love that's coming from home to remind us, please come home. >> let's go pack our boxes. >> and how you can lift the spirits of some of our troops fighting overseas. hln news and views. hello, i'm holly firfer.

we learned where some of the detainees may go when they're transferred to the u.s. for trial. now, this prison in northern illinois is a leading contender to house those detainees. it's about 150 miles west of chicago in the small town of thompson. illinois governor pat quinn describes the prison as state of the art and virtually empty. the local government offered the facility as an alternative to gitmo. illinois senator dick durbin says the decision would provide thousands of jobs. >> we have a chance to bring more than 2,000 good paying jobs with benefits to this region. jobs that are going to reward the people who go to work with paychecks that they're going to take home and spend in their communities, paychecks that are going to help create businesses, communities that are going to grow with more schools, more hospitals, more libraries. opportunities that you just don't see. >> now, a republican lawmaker

from chicago claims that transfer would invite terrorist attacks on illinois. now, there have been any terrorist attacks on guantanimo bay in the eight years the detainees have been held there. an administrative official said the tomson prison would be more secure than the super max prison in colorado. a stunning new development in the disappearance of 5-year-old shaniya davis. police in fayetteville, north carolina, have charged her mother with human trafficking. davis also faces a child abuse charge including prostitution and filing a false report. she's shown here alongside a man police have charged with kidnapping the child. they say mario mcneill is the suspect captured on hotel surveillance video carrying the girl into a room the day she was reported missing. officials still don't know where the girl is. last thursday they arrested davis' boyfriend but have since dropped kidnapping charges.

the economic summits are over, but president obama will still be talking money in the latest stop of his tour of asia. he arrived in shanghai today. and during his time in china, president obama will likely discuss trade issues with chinese president, and he'll hold a town hall-style meeting. the president also plans to take a side trip to the great wall. earlier in the day, mr. obama met with russia's president in singapore and they were there for two economic forums region. the leaders are working on replacing a treaty to reduce nuclear arms that is set to expire next month. >> in our first meeting when i traveled to moscow, we arrived at an understanding that it's made sense for our two countries to begin reducing further our nuclear stockpiles. our negotiators have made excellent progress over the last several months. our goal continues to be to complete the negotiations and to be able to sign a deal before the end of the year.

and i'm confident that if we work hard and with a sense of urgency about it that we should be able to get that done. >> the president has arranged for the united states to host the apec summit in hawaii in 2011. that means he's going to get to dictate what guests where for the official picture. in singapore, they wore traditional mandarin collared shirts, mr. obama says he's looking forward to the other leaders in flowered shirts and grass skirts. for the first time in history, 1 billion people around the world are facing starvation. so the united nations has created a way to help. the u.n.'s world food program launched this online campaign aimed at stamping out hunger. here's the idea. if 1 billion internet users donated $1 a week, the lives of a billion people around the world could be changed and on

the right side of the page, a string of numbers representing what's happened since the page was loaded. you can see millions of e-mails sent, thousands of facebook updates, and thousands of dollars spent on pet food. you can also see the number of children who have died of hunger within just the last few seconds. go to wft.org/onebillion to see it yourself. cnn's vital signs looks at the world of medicine around the world. and dr. sanjay gupta shares the story of a woman fighting widespread misunderstanding of a disease that most people don't want to talk about. >> cancer has four stages of disease. the majority of people come for treatment when we are already at stage three or stage four. very close to death. it is your education that will

save your lives. to stand up -- >> reporter: botsi is the vitality of hope, she's a local breast cancer survivor, which is a rarity in south africa's black community for breast disease is a major taboo subject. today she's speaking to secondary school children. both girls and boys. in a country where women often defer their health care choices to their husbands, she feels including boys will promote support for women down the road. >> for more on this and other exciting advances in medicine, go to our website. cnn.com/vitalsigns.

the obama administration is

defending its controversial decision to hold civilian trials for five suspected 9/11 terrorists, including khalid shaikh mohammed. white house senior adviser david axelrod tells cnn "justice will be done." but rudy giuliani says putting the suspects on trial in new york puts the city's residents at risk. an attorney experienced in civil and military law says a civilian trial will lead to eve evidence hurdles. >> we're looking at something like that confession. the standard for admitting a confession in a civilian trial is it must be voluntary and the defendant must be advised of the rights. are any of us to believe that these cia interrogators when there were softening up mohammed they were reading him his rights and telling him he could have an attorney present? we know that didn't happen. that's going to create a serious

evidentiary road block in terms of getting a confession. >> families of the 9/11 victims are also deeply divided over the prospect of a civilian trial. some say they're optimistic that justice will be done. but others say bringing the terror suspects to new york will cause up bearable pain. they say a military tribunal is more appropriate. >> bringing khalid shaikh mohammed and putting him in a civilian trial is absolutely the wrong thing to do. by doing this, you are taking his actions out of the realm of being an act of warfare and calling it a crime. this was not a crime. this is far beyond a crime, it's an act of warfare. >> i trust my justice system, the constitution which has been enforced in the last 230 years and i want them tried at home, my son was murdered here, and i want them to go to trial here. >> two more victims of a suspected serial killer were laid to rest yesterday.

they were among 11 women whose remains were found in a house in cleveland. fbi agents worked for about four hours saturday with thermal imaging devices, rakes, and shovels to see if any more bodies might be in sowell's backyard. he is a convicted sex offender, he is in jail now facing murder, rape, and other charges. authorities say sowell used drugs and alcohol to lure women to his home and then strangled them. wow, it is going to take months to clean up this mess on a mountain road in southeastern tennessee. two separate rock slides in a single day dumped at least 12,000 cubic yards of granite and quartz on to u.s. 64. but before that clean up could start, work crews are going to have to shore up the mountainside to make sure there aren't anymore rock slides. i-reporter dennis hutchinson flew over the rock slide on friday and we just got his pictures of the scene. he tells us "it's hard to put

into words the magnitude of the slide." now during the clean-up, the highway will remain closed. that's going to force people to detour as much as 100 miles around that bottleneck. the governor of virginia visited areas of the state that were hit hard by a nor'easter. governor tim kaine assured storm victims he would push for federal money to help them recover. he also said he'd try and free up some state funds, as well. nearly 8 inches of rain drenched the coastal city of norfolk. officials are waiting for flood waters to recede before they can assess that damage. boston is a pretty well known city, right? well, it's been the setting for several tv shows. but there are still some hidden gems in bean town in this week's "my city, my secret." >> hi, i'm barry marshall and i was born and raised here in boston. and i'm going to tell you about some of my favorite places. it's a great place during the

day for breakfast and lunch. but i particularly like the brazilian food at night. and one of my favorite ones is the brazilian fish soup. i think the bridal book shop is fabulous. it does have a lot of good bargain cheap deals but up scale to the very valuable rare first editions and old books. when i was doing some browsing, i looked up in a 1929 boston phone book, my grandmother's phone number and i found it. here's our last stop looney tunes, a music store. i'm a musician myself so a lot of the music i learned i learned off records i bought here. and also really rare vinyl. this is a classic album from 1967, satanic majesties requested with the moving cover. it does the little 3-d thing. now you know some of my favorite places, now let's see some of yours. go to

i-report.com/mycitymysecret.

our i-reporters catch a lot of great stories and sometimes they also show us how we can make a difference in someone's life. now, cnni-reporter chris morrow talked to one soldier as he helped a group of moms in california send a little tlc to troops serving in afghanistan and iraq. >> i get a lot of ohs and awes and, oh, i really needed something like this. or this is so great. and of course we realize the effort that goes into packing the boxes, the expense of mailing these overseas, but it's the care and the love that's coming from home to remind us please come home. let's go pack a box. batteries, these are a big hit. >> cards to send home. how about some movies and music?

our female soldiers will love this. shower shoes, very important. never leave home without the shower shoes. i don't know why, some guys really like the sardines. the army moves on coffee, got to have your coffee. >> every soldier needs some jerky. >> great to carry on patrol, got to have the jerky. and with your movie, got to have popcorn. my box is full now. as you've been able to see from all of the various assortment of items are here that there are cameras, there's cookies, chips. there's just body lotion, body powder, brushes, toothbrushes, there's so many, many things and each box is different. none of them are the same. we're ready now to pack this box up and send them out.

dear soldier, i'm writing to tell you we thank you and love you. looks like it's from william or wilton. i encourage all people, or young ones or those who aren't able to serve or for whatever reason to get involved in some kind of volunteer or community action to support our military and support our troops overseas. they deserve it. they work hard. when they come home, there's a lot of transitional things that go on. so, again, for our soldiers overseas, get involved. it's part of our country. it's what makes us great. >> and if you'd like to help out, you can go to the blue star mothers website at bluestarmothers.org. and you can find that list of chapters close to you. and once again we want to say thanks to i-reporter chris morrow for that great report. when you have images of breaking news or really cool

stories from your part of the world, head to i-report.com, click on the upload now link and you'll find easy instructions there. hln money expert clark howard serves in the georgia state guard. and today, you're going to see him serving our troops. clark and our own robin meade teamed up to help soldiers and you save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. >> she says what's the best way to be debt free before retirement? when are you going to be retiring? >> two years from the army reserve and two to five years from reserves. >> what kind of debts do you have that you're trying to get your arms around? >> i want to get around to paying off the house and having just house and utilities by the time i retire. >> well, paying off your home mortgage is not always a priority. the big priority is paying off any unsecured debt. personal loans, credit cards,

then next would be car loans. but home mortgage debt is not a high priority with me. it's more important that you beef up your savings than it is to be mortgage debt free. it's psychological for people to want to be mortgage debt free on the day they retire. i'm not that much into that. because your house isn't going to feed you money. you're going to feed yourself from the money that you have saved. >> yeah, clark, what about -- i've heard other financial analysts who aren't half as good as you when they say yeah, you're paying off your mortgage should be a priority because that way you're never homeless. >> well, that is a good point. but i'm more concerned about people who retire don't have enough money, don't have enough cash to pay for every day things and they -- it's an empty victory that they own their house free and clear. >> you want more good

information? then don't miss operation clark smart today at 4:00 p.m. eastern. clark and robin talk to the troops and they're going to help you save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. construction of the aircraft carrier gerald r. ford got its official kickoff yesterday with a ceremony. the carrier's named for the former president and is the first in a new ford class of carriers. ford's daughter susan ford bales was at the ceremony and declared it truly and fairly laid. it is scheduled for delivery in 2015. the price of fame can be high, but the price of being infamous, even higher. wait until you hear how much bidders were willing to pay for items related to convicted swindler bernie madoff.

the mother of a missing girl charged with human trafficking. and it's not the only crime she's accused of. but still no sign of 5-year-old shaniya davis. now some of these suspected terrorists could be headed to a much colder climate here in the u.s. plus -- >> just the care and the love that's coming from home to remind us please come home. let's go pack a box. >> and how you can lift the spirits of some of our troops fighting overseas. hln knenews and views. hello i'm holly firfer.

we learned where some of the detainees may go when they're transferred to the u.s. for trial. this prison in northern illinois is a leading contender to house those detainees, about 150 miles west of chicago in the small town of thomson. pat quinn describes the prison as state of the art and virtually empty. the local government offered the facility as an alternative to gitmo and the federal government found it suitable. illinois senator dick durbin says the decision would provide thousands of jobs. we have a chance to bring more than 2,000 good paying jobs with benefits to this region. jobs that are going to reward the people who go to work with paychecks that they're going to take home and spend in their communities, paychecks that are going to help create businesses, communities that are going to grow with more schools, more hospitals, more libraries, opportunities that you just don't see. >> now, republican lawmaker from

chicago claims that transfer would invite terrorist attacks on illinois. there have been not been any terrorist attacks on guantanimo bay in the eight years the detainees have been held there. an administrative official says the prison would be more secure than the super max prison in colorado. the obama administration is defending the controversial decision to hold civilian trials for five suspected 9/11 terrorists, including confessed master mind khalid shaikh mohammed. david axelrod tells cnn justice will be done. but former new york mayor rudy giuliani says putting the suspects on trial in new york puts the city's residents at risk. an attorney experienced in civil and military law says a civilian trial will lead to evidentiary hurdles you won't see in a military tribunal. >> the rules are juggernaut. if we're looking at something

like a confession, the standards for admitteding a confession in a civilian trial it must be voluntary and the defendant must be advised of his rights. are any of us to believe that these cia interrogators when they were softening up khalid shaikh mohammed were at the same time reading him his miranda rights? we know that didn't happen. so that's going to create a serious evidentiary road block as far as getting in confessions. >> family members of the 9/11 victims are also deeply divided over the prospect of the civilian trial. some say they're optimistic that justice will be done, but others say bringing the terror suspects to new york will cause unbearable pain. they say a military tribunal is more appropriate. >> bringing khalid shaikh mohammed and putting him in a civilian trial is absolutely the wrong thing to do. by doing this, you are taking his actions out of the realm of being an act of warfare and calling it a crime.

this was not a crime. this was far beyond a crime, it's an act of warfare. >> i trust the constitution, the justice system, and i want them tried at home, my son was murdered here and i want to see them go to trial here. the economic summits are over, but president obama will still be talking money in the latest stop of his tour of asia. he arrived in shanghai today. and during his time in china, president obama will likely discuss trade issues with chinese president tao. he also plans to take a side trip to the great wall. earlier in the day, mr. obama met with russia's president in singapore, and they were there for two commit foreconomic foru. they are, working on a treaty to reduce nuclear arms that is set

to expire next month. >> we arrived at an understanding that it's made sense for our two countries to begin reducing further our nuclear stockpiles. our negotiators have made excellent progress over the next several months. our goal continues to be to complete the negotiations and be able to sign a deal before the end of the year. and i'm confident that if we work hard and with a sense of urgency about it that we should be able to get that done. >> the president has arranged for the united states to host the apec summit in hawaii in 2011. that means he's going to get to dictate what guests wear for the official picture. in singapore they wore traditional mandarin collared shirts, mr. obama says he's looking forward to seeing the other leaders decked out in flowered shirts and grass skirts. for the first time in history, 1 billion people around the world are facing starvation. so the united nations has

created a high-tech way to help. the u.n.'s world food program launched this online campaign called billion for a billion. aimed at stamping out hunger. now, here's the idea. if 1 billion internet users donated $1 a week, the lives of 1 billion people around the world could be changed and on the right side of the page, a string of numbers representing what's happened since the page was loaded. you can see millions of e-mails sent, thousands of facebook updates, and thousands of dollars spent on pet food. you can also see the number of children who have died of hunger within just the last few seconds. go to wft.org/onebillion to see it for yourself. air travel can be a nightmare. but knowing how to work the system can help make it a little less stressful. >> itthe best way to avoid dela

is take the first flight of the day. delays pile up through the day causing congestion. if you can get ahead of the problem, take the first flight of the morning, you're going to be in good shape. >> using alternative airports will also help. >> smaller airports have fewer planes arriving and departing. so they may be less likely to have delays. >> listen to the advice of other travelers and take weather into consideration. >> laguardia airport new york is notorious for flight delays. and it's one people talk about avoiding, chicago o'hare is particularly tricky in the winter months because it is such a major hub, it can slow down airports all over the country.

a stunning new development in the disappearance of 5-year-old shaniya davis. police have charged her mother with human trafficking.

antoinette davis also faces a child abuse charge including prostitution and filing a false report. she's shown alongside a man. they say mario mcneill is the suspect captured on a hotel surveillance video carrying a girl into the room the day she was reported missing. authorities still don't know where the girl is. last thursday they arrested davis' boyfriend but have since dropped kidnapping charges against clarence. bay area police are still looking for an 18-month-old child who has been missing since his mother was killed early friday. searchers scoured aquatic park in berkeley looking for williams. his mother's body was found in that park. police are holding kurtis myer in connection with the death. they haven't actually found jashon in a couple of weeks. >> every time you want to see the baby, there's some kind of excuse. >> some kind of excuse,

something was keeping the baby away or somebody had the baby or something. >> she told me she hadn't seen the baby in two weeks. she said that he was with kurtis. >> police say the suspect has an extensive criminal history and served six years for killing a child. two more victims of a suspected serial killer were laid to rest yesterday. they were among 11 women whose remains were found in a house in cleveland. fbi agents worked for about four hours saturday with thermal imaging devices, rakes, and shovels to see if any more bodies might be in anthony sowell's backyard. sowell is a convicted sex offender. he is in jail now facing murder, rape, and other charges. authorities say sowell used drugs and alcohol to lure women to his home and then strangled them. teams on chicago's deadly streets are being asked are neighborhood beats really dying over? a peace summit brought together

two gangs from chicago's south side. many gang members blame their ongoing feud for sparking a brawl that killed 16-year-old darian albert back in september. the goal of yesterday's summit stop the violence and start talking. >> everybody's shooting, everybody's hustling. you've got people doing a little bit of everything. so you've got to find out where you fit at. >> i got a little encouraged today and took a step. >> organizers for the summit say they had to get their teens out of the environment to get them to talk. the governor of virginia visited areas of a state that were hit hard by a nor'easter. governor tim kaine assured storm victims he would push for federal money to help them recover. he also said he'd try and free up some state funds, as well. nearly 8 inches of rain drenched the coastal city of norfolk. officials are waiting for flood waters to recede before they can assess that damage.

the powerful storm battered new jersey for a third straight day yesterday. and that didn't help people who were trying to clear flooded roads and repair storm damage. the storm is blamed for at least six deaths in three states. do you think frozen vegetables don't really measure up? well, it turns out sometimes they may actually be more healthy for you than fresh vegetables. check out why in today's "beyond the surface." >> fresh versus frozen produce. wh is better? if you think fresh, think again. it turns out that frozen produce is just as nutritious as fresh produce. because frozen vegetables and fruit are harvested at their peak, the nutrition is preserved throughout the freezing process. you can lose those vitamins to water if you put them in large

amounts. i would suggest that you put them always in small amounts by steaming. canned vegetables are usually very high in sodium, canned fruit unless you get it packed in its own juice or in water, skip it. you want to get as many colorful vegetables and fruit in your diet as is possible to protect you from chronic disease.

hundreds of people marked a somber anniversary at marshall university in west virginia. 39 years ago yesterday a plane crash killed most of the school's football team. in what is an annual event, a memorial fountain was shut off and will not be turned back on until spring. >> this is a symbol and a beacon for what can happen when people pull together as a community, rise above the adversity and tragedy and find triumph and success. >> a charter jet carrying the team crashed on the way home from the game.

grief in two california communities today after two tragic aircraft crashes this weekend. a medical helicopter had dropped off a patient at a reno hospital and returning to california when it went down. investigators say the pilot issued a may day seconds before the chopper crashed in a fire ball. the pilot, a flight nurse, and a paramedic were killed. and the pilot of a small plane died when his single engine aircraft went down in san gabriel. authorities say he was trying to make an emergency landing in a parking lot but the plane skidded across the street and slammed into a wall and caught fire. our i-reporters catch a lot of great stories and sometimes they also show us how we can make a difference in someone's life. now cnni-reporter chris morrow talked to one soldier as he helped a group of moms in california send a little tlc to troops serve in afghanistan and iraq.

>> we get a lot of ohs and awes, and oh, i really needed something like this. this is so great. and of course we realize the effort that goes into packing the boxes, the expense of mailing these overseas, but it's the care and the love that is coming from home to remind us please come home. >> let's go pack a box. batteries, these are a big hit. cards to send home. how about some movies and music. our female soldiers will love this, shower shoes very important. never leave home without the shower shoes. i don't know why, some guys really like the sardines. the army moves on coffee. there you coffee. >> every soldier needs some jerky.

>> great to carry on patrol. you've got to have the beef jerky. and with your movie, you've got to have popcorn. well, my box is full now as you've been able to see from the -- all the various assortment of items that are here that there are cameras, there's cookies, chips, there's just, you know, body lotion, body powder, brushes, toothbrushes, there's so many, many things and each box is different. none of them are the same. we're ready now to pack this box up and send it out. this says dear soldier, i'm writing to tell you that we thank you and love you, you are the best. please come home safe, love -- and it looks like it's from willam or wilton. for those who aren't able to serve, get involved in some kind of volunteer or community action to support our military, to

support our troops that are overseas. they deserve it, they work hard. when they come home, there's a lot of transitional things that go on. so, again, for our soldiers overseas, get involved. soldier overseas, get involved. it's part of our country, it's what makes us great. >> if you'd like to help out, you can go to the blue star mothers website at bluestarmothers.org. and you can find a list of chapters close to you. once again, we want to say thanks to ireporter chris morrow for that great report. when you have images of breaking news or really cool stories from your part of the world, go to ireport.com and click on the upload now link. construction of the aircraft carrier "ger ald r. ford" got sent off yesterday in a new keel-laying ceremony. ford's daughter susan ford

bayles was at the ceremony. the carrier is scheduled for delivery to the navy in 2015. wow. it is going to take months to clean up this mess on a mountain road in southeastern tennessee. two separate rock slides in a single day dumped at least 12,000 cubic yards of granite and quaurtsz on to u.s. 64. work crews will have to shore up the mountain slide to make sure there aren't any more rock slides. dennis hutchison flew over there on friday. he tells us, it's hard to put into words the magnitude of the slide. during the cleanup, the highway will remain closed. that's going to force people to detour as much as 100 miles around that bottleneck. the price of fame can be high, but the price of being

infamous even higher. wait until you hear how much bidders were willing to pay for items related to bernie madoff.

the mother of a missing girl charged with human trafficking. and it's not the only crime she's accused of. but still no sign of 5-year-old shaniya davis. now some of these suspected terrorists could be headed to a much colder climate here in the u.s. plus -- >> the care, the love that's coming from home to remind us, please come home. let's go pack a box. >> how you can lift the spirits of some of our troops fighting overseas. hln news and views. hello. i'm holly firfer. we've learned where some of the

terrorism suspects held at guantanamo detention center may go when they're transferred to the u.s. for trial. this prison in northern illinois is a leading contender to house those detainees. it's about 150 miles west of chicago in the small town of thomson. illinois governor pat quinn describes the prison as state of the art and virtually empty. the local government offered the facility as an alternative to g gitmo. the decision would provide thousands of jobs. >> we have a chance to bring more than 2s thes this good paying jobs with benefits to this region, jobs that are going to reward the people that go to work with paychecks that they're going to take home and spend in their communities, paychecks that are going to help create businesses, communities that are going to grow with more schools, more hospitals, more libraries, opportunities that you just don't see.

>> now a republican lawmaker from chicago claims that transfer would invite terrorist attacks on illinois. now, there have not been any terrorist attacks on guantanamo bay in the eight years the detainees have been held there. an administrative official says the thomson prison would be even more secure than the nation's supermax federal prison in colorado. a stunning new development in the disappearance of 5-year-old shaniya davis. police in fayetteville, north carolina, have charged her mother with human trafficking. antoinette davis also faces a child abuse charge including prostitution and filing a false report. she's shown here alongside a man police have charged with kidnapping the child. they say mario mcneal is the suspect captured on a hotel surveillance video carrying the girl into a room the day she was reported missing. authorities still don't know where the girl is. last thursday they arrested davis' boyfriend, but have since dropped kidnapping charges against clarence coe.

bay area police are still looking for an 18-month-old child who has been missing since his mother was killed early friday. searchers squired aquatic park in berkeley looking for jashon williams. his mother's body was found in that park. police are holding curtis martin in connection with the woman's death. her family and friends say it's possible the child was with her, but she haven't actually seen jashon in a couple of weeks. >> any time you want to see the baby, there's some kind of excuse. >> some kind of excuse as if something was keeping the baby away or somebody had the baby or just something. >> she told me she hasn't seen the baby in two weeks. she said that he was with curtis. >> police say the suspect has an extensive criminal history and served six years for killing a child. the economic summits are over, but president obama will still be talking money in the latest stop of his tour of asia. he arrived in shanghai today. and during his time in china

president obama will likely discuss trade issues with chinese president hu jintao. and he'll hold a town hall style meeting. the president says he also plans to take a side trip to the great wall. earlier in the day, mr. obama met with leaders in singapore. the leaders are working on replacing a treaty to reduce nuclear arms that are st to expire next month. >> in our first meeting when i traveled to moscow, we arrived at an understanding that made sense for our two countries to begin reducing further our nuclear stockpiles. our negotiators have made excellent progress over the last several months. our goal continues to be to complete the negotiations and to be able to sign a deal before the end of the year. and i'm confident that if we work hard and with a sense of urgency about it, that we should be able to get that done.

>> the president has arranged for the united states to host the apec summit in hawaii in 2011. that means he's going to get to dictate what guests wear for the summit's official picture. in singapore leaders wore traditional mandarin-collared shirts. mr. obama said he's looking forward to seeing the other leaders decked out in flowered shirts and grass skirts. for the first time in history, 1 billion people around the world are facing starvation. so the united nations has created a high tech way to help. the u.n.'s world food program launched this online campaign called billion for a billion. aimed at stamping out hunger. here's the idea. if a billion internet users donated a dollar a week, the lives of a billion people around the world could be changed. and on the right side of the page, a string of numbers representing what's happened since the page was loaded. you can see millions of e-mails sent, thousands of facebook updates and thousands of dollars

spent on pet food. you can also see the number of children who have died of hunger within just the last few seconds. go to wfp.org/onebillion to see it for yourself. witch hazel, sounds more like the name of an alternative rock band than a beauty product, but it's actually one your great-grandmother might have used. now a company that makes it is trying to generate a turnaround in its popularity. here's christine romans. >> reporter: what's flowing through this tube? witch hazel, produced by the american distilling company since 1866. in the early days wood from witch hazel shrubs was harvested with horses and distilled the old fashioned away. today it is still harvested in connecticut but it's distilled in this high tech facility, the mission of owner ed jackowitz.

>> his vision was to be the best in the world at manufacturing witch hazel. >> reporter: american distilling was doing well, selling its witch hazel in bulk for other brands, everything from facial cleansers to hemorrhoid creams. then son brian joined the company years ago. he set out to change the company's old fashioned witch hazel brand into something fresh and modern. same product, updated image. >> we are the best at the world in producing this product. and now our goal is to be the best in the world at marketing this product. >> reporter: first stop running today's image against today's consumer. >> we showed them the package. i don't want to put that on my face. >> reporter: the look changed. so did the package. it's no longer an astringent. it is now a pore perfecting toner to position it as a gentle product. >> removes what cleansers don't. >> we've realized double digit

growth almost every year that i've been here. the future for this company is expanding the team of people that we have for marketing and sales. bringing more professionals in and really adding more fuel to the fire. >> reporter: the company plans to build a new warehouse. bringing this 19th century health and beauty staple to a 21st century beauty regimen. christine romans, new york. when rival gangs come face to face in chicago the result is often deadly. but a cease-fire summit created a break from the gun play. hear one gang member tell why he thought it was a step in the right direction.

the obama administration is defending its controversial decision to hold civilian trials for five suspected 9/11

terrorists including confessed master mind khalid shaikh mohammed. david axlerod tells cnn justice will be done. but rudy giuliani says putting the suspects on trial in new york puts the city's residents at risk. an attorney experienced in civil and military law says a civilian trial will lead to evidentiary hurdles you won't see in a military tribunal. >> the rules of evidence are juggernaut even for seasoned criminal defense attorney. if we're looking for something, let's say a, confession, the standard for submitting a confession in a civil murder trial is that it must be voluntary and that a civilian must be advised of his rights. do any of us believe when the interrogators were softening up khalid shaikh mohammed were reading his miranda rights and telling him that he has the right to remain silent. we know that didn't happen. that will create a serious evidentiary road block as far as getting in confessions.

>> family members of the 9/11 victims are also deeply divided over the prospect of a civilian trial. some say they're optimistic that justice will be done, but others say bringing the terror suspects to new york will cause unbearable pain. they say a military tribunal is more appropriate. >> bringing khalid shaikh mohammed and putting him in a civilian trial is absolutely the wrong thing to do. by doing this, you are taking his actions out of the realm of being an act of warfare and calling it a crime. this was not a crime. this was far beyond a crime. it's an act of warfare. >> i trust my justice system, and i want them tried home. my son was murdered here. i want to see them go to trial here. and i want to watch it each and every single day. teens on chicago's deadly streets are being asked are neighborhood beefs really worth dying over? a peace summit brought together

two gangs from chicago's south side. many gang members blame their ongoing feud for sparking a brawl that killed 16-year-old derrion albert back in october. the summit, stop the violence and start talking. >> to me, it's hard. everybody's gang bagging and everybody shooting, everybody hustling. you know what i'm saying? you got people doing a little bit of this. you have to find out where you fit in. i took a step, you know. >> organizers for the summit say they had to get the teens out of the environment to get them to talk. >> wow. it is going to take months to clean up this mess on a mountain road in southeastern tennessee. two separate rock slides in a single day dumped at least 12,000 cubic yards of granite and quartz on to u.s. 64.

before that cleanup can start, work crews will have to shore up the mountainside to make sure there aren't any more rock slides. our reporter dennis hutcheson flew over the scene and we just got his pictures. he tells us "it's hard to put into words the magnitude of the slide." now, during the cleanup, the highway will remain closed and that will force people to detour as much as 100 miles around that bottleneck. the governor of virginia visited areas of his state that was hit hard by a nor'easter. governor tim kaine assured storm victims he would push for federal money to help them recover. he also said he would try to free up some state funds, as well. nearly eight inches of rain drenched the coastal city of norfolk. officials are waiting for floodwaters to recede before they can assess that damage.

cnn's "vital signs" looks at the world of medicine around the world. dr. sanjay gupta shares the story of a woman fighting widespread misunderstanding of a disease that most people don't want to talk about. >> cancer has four stages of disease. the majority of us black people come for treatment when we are already at stage 3 or stage 4. very close to death. it is your education that will save your life. >> this woman of south africa is the embodiment of hope and vitality in the face of cancer. she's a vocal breast cancer survival. she's a rarity in south africa's black community where breast disease is a major taboo subject. today she's speaking to secondary school children. both girls and boys. in a country where women offer defer their health care choices to their husband's, she feels including boys will promote

support for women down the road. >> for more on this and other exciting advances in medicine, just go to our website. cnn.com/vitalsigns.

our ireporters catch a lot of great stories, and sometimes they also show us how we can make a difference in someone's life. now, cnn ireporter chris morrow talked to one soldier as he helped a group of moms in california send a little tlc to troops serving in afghanistan and iraq. >> i get a lot of oohs and ahhs and things like "i really needed something like this" or "this is

so great." of course, we realize the effort that goes into packing these boxes, the expense of mailing these oversea, but it's the care and the love that's coming from home to remind us, please come home. let's go pack a box. we have magazines. batteries, these are a big hit. cards to send home. how about some movies and some music? our female soldiers will love this. shower shoes, very important. never leave home without your shower shoes. i don't know why, but some guys really like the sardines. the army moves on coffee. have to have your coffee. >> every soldier needs some jerky. the best. >> great to carry on patrol. got to have your beef jerky and with your movie you have to have popcorn. my box is full now, but, as you've been able to see from all the various assortment of items that are here, that there are cameras and cookies and chips

and just, you know, body lotion, body powder, brushes, toothbrushes and so many things and each box is different. so none of them are the same. we're ready now to pack this box up and send her out. this is letter here. it says "dear soldier, i'm writing to tell you that i thank you and love you. please come home safe. love" and it looks like it's william or wilton. i encourage all people, those who aren't able to serve, to get involved in some kind of volunteer or community action to support our military, support our troops that are overseas. they deserve it. they work hard. when they come home with a lot of transitional things that go on. so again, for our soldiers

overseas, get involved. it's part of our country. it's what makes us great. >> if you'd like to help out, you can go to the blue star mothers website at bluestarmothers.org. and you can find a list of chapters close to you. and once again, we want to say thanks to ireporter chris morrow for that great report. construction of the aircraft carrier "gerald r. ford" got its kickoff yesterday with a keel-laying ceremony. the carrier is named for the former president and is the first in a new ford class of carriers. ford's daughter, susan ford bayles was at the ceremony and declared the keel truly and fairly laid. it is scheduled for delivery to the navy in 2015. the price of fame can be high, but the price of being infamous even higher. wait until you hear how much bidders were willing to pay for items related to convicted swindler bernie madoff.

hello. i'm gerri willis and this is "your bottom line." the show that saves you money. make money right now. we've got a list of ways to help you pump up your income right away. and get out of town without breaking the bank. deals and steals on airfare for you and your family. save some big cash with some small improvements around the house this weekend. the show that saves you money starts right now. the stock market is back up, hitting a 13-month high this week for lots of folks that means a big sigh of relief. as the value of their investments start to build back up. now, whether you stuck it out or jumped ship in the past year,

our next guest is to tell you what you need to do to make the most of your investments. ric edelman is the author of "rescue your money." great to see you again. >> you too, gerri, always a pleasure. >> everybody is asking me, we've seen what's happening with stocks. let's throw money in it, right? is now the time to invest? >> yes, it is absolutely the time to invest, provided that you have the proper perspective, meaning a long-term time horizon. if you're thinking you're going to get rich quick by throwing money into stocks today, you might be sorely disappointed. but if you have a five or ten-year outlook, this is a great time to invest. >> what's interesting about what's going on is that everybody got so scared in that market sell-off, they got out of stocks. some of them taking heavy losses. many of them, many of them have never gotten back in, so they've completely missed the rally this year. what would you tell those folks? >> to get over it. when you make investment decisions based on your emotions

you're almost always going to do the wrong thing at the wrong time. you're right, gerri, a lot of folks bailed out last year all the way through last spring because they were scared. they have missed the 60% rally, 70% rally that we've enjoyed since march 9. the worst part is that they've reinvested into bonds and bond funds. those investments are poised for big losses in the next couple of years. >> poised for losses, bond funds are poised for losses? >> they really are. it is really ironic. people are investing in bonds out of a desire for safety. what they don't understand is that bond prices are affected by interest rates. if interest rates rise, bond values fall. most people don't understand this. >> that's a good warning to folks out there. what about if you stuck with your investments. let's say you stuck to your guns, you saw the market falling, hey, i'm just going to hang on and keep throwing money at this. what would you tell those folks now. should they take their gains, should they move on? >> i have one word for you,

congratulations. your ford tude has been vindicated. you have proven that you were able to stick it out. you were able to stand away from the headlines and the fear factor that was encouraging so many folks to do the wrong thing. and by continuing to invest in your 401(k) at work or in your own mutual funds and your i.r.a., you've actually made money. most people who have continued to invest over the last two years have more money today than they did two years ago because they had the forthtude to stick it out. keep doing what you're doing because you've got the magic answer. >> so another question that i keep getting asked, and i think it's a really good one. should individual investors, should they buy stock, should they stick with mutual funds? what about these etfs that are so cheap, so inexpensive to buy. >> very clearly etfs, exchange traded funds. the days of buying individual stocks are over. when you have the biggest companies in america and the world go broke, whether you're looking at general motors or aig

or lehman brothers or bear stearns, or fannie and freddie, when the best can go broke, that shows that the days of buying individual stocks are gone. you need to instead buy baskets of stocks. and that's what a fund is. don't buy retail mutual funds, buy exchange-traded funds. as you pointed out, they're dirt cheap. you can buy them for practically nothing. that's the way to go. >> one word answer. is the stock market going to end the year higher or lower? >> yes. >> higher? >> we're very optimistic that the stock market's going to continue to do well. >> all right. ric edelman, thank you. appreciate your time today. >> any time, gerri. now, investing isn't the only way to grow your money. if you're looking for some extra cash, there's things you can do right now to pump up your income. donna, great to see you again. >> great to see you, gerri. >> you had some really interesting ideas. one is go to class, teach a class. but what does that take? >> well, you know, often either

a lot of life work experience and possibly a master's degree. but there's a huge demand for education. you can teach at a two-year college, a four-year college, vocational school, continuing education. there's a big demand for that. >> how much money would i make doing that? >> it's going to depend. community college, you may get $1,000 per class up to $6,000 per course. it takes time to prepare for these classes. you can even teach courses online. you have to balance that out. a great diversifier for your career and a lot of satisfaction for the people doing teaching. >> not a bad thing to put on your resume. >> that's right. >> one of the old fashioned things you would do is rent out a part of your house to somebody, right? but can you make money doing that, i mean, really? >> a lot of the things, you need a little bit of elbow grease. but if you have a room in your home with a private entrance and a private bath, those are going to fetch the most money. and, you know, it's not a bad way to turn a little extra -- some unused space into extra income. >> i read that the average

studio goes for $947 a month, that's not chump change out there. >> it is not. you want to be careful and vet the people in your house and living with you. but if you find the right person and it's already unused space, it can be a nice way to bring in a little extra income. you have to check with your local zoning board to make sure it's allowed. >> you say monetize a hobby. i'm a good cook, maybe make money on the side as a private chef. >> you could give cooking lessons. someone who loves to plan parties, an event planner. turn a passion into a hobby. a good friend is a soccer nut. he's a ref for a local league. and he makes some good money. so yes -- >> doing something that he likes. >> you have to do your due diligence and see what the market is for these kind of things. you don't want to kill your passion for what you enjoy. you can make money and enjoy what you're doing. >> the usual thing that people decide that they want to do is they consult. >> that's right. >> but everybody and their mother is consulting right now because the job market is so

bad. >> that's right. actually a little easier if you have a job to do consulting on the side. you're deploying your expertise. you can go to previous employers. the big key with that, is you don't want to have a conflict with your current job. >> you have to tell your boss. >> you got to check your boss. you don't want to steal business from your boss or work for a competitor. if you're a grafblg designer, you can do things on the side. if you have marketing skills develop a website for noncompetitor. you can bring in good dough doing it, too. >> i love that. it doesn't take a lot of preparation if you were already involved in that kind of work to begin with. >> that's right. >> just finding those people out there who need the services. >> right. you can go to former employers. great find to find out what's in demand go to google.com, see what jobs are in demand and what skills and how much people are getting paid for them. >> it's in times like these where some folks will do just about anything to get by. and that includes trying to take

advantage of you. up next, fighting fraud.

the lights are on but nobody's home. about one in seven houses was empty in the third quarter. that is the highest rating since the government began tracking

the number 45 years ago. now, the total house vacancy rate standing at 14.5% right now. foreclosures are partially to blame as strapped borrowers can't make their mortgage payments. in october, foreclosure filings dropped from the previous month but are up 19% from this month last year. reality track, that's the company that puts together the foreclosure numbers, they say three consecutive monthly declines is unprecedented for their report and may be an indication that the foreclosure tide is turning. and there's more. house prices, it seems, may be finally bottoming out. good news. the national median home price was $177,900 in the third quarter. that's up $7,000 from the previous quarter. however, that is still down more than 11% from the third quarter of last year. vacancies, foreclosures, home prices, with all this news, sadly, mortgage fraud is still on the rise. scammers got a whole new bag of tricks. listen up because we're going to tell you the signs when that offer of help may be a scheme.

ann fullmer exposes mortgage fraud in her own neighborhood. she joins us now from washington. great to see you again. >> great to see you, too, gerri. >> what about this idea that mortgage fraud is still going up. why and what are these new types out there? >> fraud seems to thrive in unstable markets regardless of whether prices are rising or falling. as always schemes work to take advantage of basically market opportunities. right now there's an awful lot of houses on the market in terms of foreclosures, there's a lot of vacancies, pressure to move those units. >> take a look at where these are. we've got a great map we want to show people. color coded. a heatness isti sensitive map t can see where it is occurring. the usual suspects here. california, nevada, florida, the places where we really have seen home prices plummet. why is the fraud concentrated

there? >> well, interestingly enough, it turns out that because fraud oftentimes leads to foreclosure, these were states that were leading in mortgage fraud cases during the boom. now those houses are leading in foreclosure. that's where the fraud is happening today. in these states with the high level of foesh closure. that's where the opportunity is. >> if i have a vacant house, should i be worried? are there going to be scammers coming in to take advantage of us? >> potentially. there's a lot of things to be worried about if you have vacant houses, especially if there's a lot or more than one. the department of criminologists will tell you that vacant houses are magnets for property crimes and are associated with an increase in violent crimes against persons as well. in some cases and in some cities there are organized movements to put squatters in these homes. they may or may not have utility services. if there's no one providing electricity or gas to heat the home, you have a higher risk of fire.

we see a lot of arson and other fires involved with vacant houses. >> there's lots of problems, not just one. i want to talk about short sales for a second. you say this is one of the new scams out there. there are short sale specialists. first of all, let's define short sale. what is a short sale and how are the scammers getting involved? >> a short sale basically means that the bank agrees to let you sell your home for less than the amount of the mortgage owed. short sales are the hot new thing now because there's -- foreclosures are so bad on your credit record. a short sale is not quite so bad. an easier, cheaper way for the banks to get rid of the properties because they obviously have a huge backlog of properties and they don't want to be landlords. if you look on the internet, you'll see that the get rich quick investment gurus and experts are now touting short sales as the way to quick riches. again because of these market opportunities. there's just a huge supply of distressed borrowers and it's easy to take advantage of them.

>> quickly i want to get to a couple places to go if you think you're in trouble. where do you go if you need help? >> you can report your concerns to the local police, the fbi. another great place now is to report it to your state attorneys general because they're very concerned about these short sales and foreclosure rescue schemes. a lot of states have task forces that are ready to come in and help. >> thanks for helping us out today. >> you're welcome. >> next, your weekend project. get your home ready for the winter months before it's too late and save some big bucks.

winter will be here before you know it. that means it's time for tips to save you some heat and some cash this winter. earlier i spoke with a home improvement expert and ace hardware's helpful hardware man. and this is important. because you know the weather is getting cold. >> oh, yeah, right. >> i want to start with windows. my window, what a mess. what can i do to keep the heat in? >> remember this, windows and doors are your areas of greatest loss in a home. even after you put brand new windows in, it's natural, obviously, because of the glass. if you can, replace your windows

a fer fick time because of the federal tax credit. >> there's free money to be had. >> all kinds of that. up to $1500. but you have to stick with major manufacturers because not all of them qualify. there's certain criteria that the windows have to have in order to meet it. it's the you factor. >> the u factor. >> a 0.30 u factor which is the solar heat loss. the heat loss, rather, that a window has. >> i assume they're advertising that. >> they are. and another number, 0.30, you have to watch with this and work with manufacturers. if windows are not in your budget, you want to do something to cut those drafts. what i've done is prepped this particular window. this is a brand new window, you could never do this with this one, but for sake of argument, i've put double sided tape on this window and i'm putting on window film. >> you're putting like plastic wrap on your window. >> this plastic wrap, now i know it doesn't look like much right

now. but once you tape this on and you use a hair dryer -- >> let me get the hair dryer. >> i need it over here. >> you turn the hair dryer on and it's going to shrink this so that you don't see it. it will tighten up so much that you'll be able to trim around the edges and this -- listen to this, gerri, by cutting the drafts in your windows, you can increase the energy efficiency of the drafting window by up to 70%. >> wow. that's huge. >> this is a place where -- >> why buy new windows? >> well, the problem is the look and the operation, if they don't operate, if you're using a spoon to keep them open, then you might want to put that on your budget. >> what do i do to keep drafts going out my doors. >> weather stripping, go around the window and door. they make window kits that are larger for patio doors. keep in mind when you do this and you put it over the door, you won't be able to open the door. so in an emergency, you can rip

right through the plastic. don't worry about that. >> old fashioned but green and it's cheap. >> use caulking around windows and doors. one of the most effective ways to eliminate eliminate drafts i home. >> wish we could get some. but we can't today. let's talk filters. furnace filters. a cheap way, make sure your furnace operate as efficiently as possible. these things not a lot of money. >> don't want you to spend on this. 99 cent filter. blue filters. they don't do anything for the indoor air quality. upgrade to pleated filters, you can go up higher, an ace pleated filter. 3-m filters. do a nice job of trapping particulates in the air. it is important, too, gerri, to have your furnace inspected and cleaned by a licensed

professional. it will cost you $100. then you will have the peace of mind over the winter it will not clunk out middle of february and get a service call. >> good point. i want to talk about my lawn for a second. it has been an issue this year. i know there are things i can do end of the year to make it better next spring. what would that be? >> winter/fall is the best time to take care of your lawn. rake up all the leaves. okay. get rid of the thatch that has grown there in the summertime. put a winterizing fertilizer. several different ones out there that go on. >> see them right there. >> a big bag there, the bigger bag is a natural product. full of iron. it is actually made, comes from milwaukee county sewage. >> you don't have to buy things that will hurt the environment. buy things that are green. >> doing that fertilizing in the fall, what it will do is promote healthy root growth. in the spring your lawn is going to come back more healthy. then do spot seeding. start on the four-step program. you will be the envy of the

neighborhood. >> i have to figure out a way to get you to my house. >> we can go right after this. >> loou, thank you. chances are your thanksgiving travel plans are set. there are end of the year bargains. cheap airfares for you and your family coming right up.

♪ ♪ >> i am an american soldier! i will never accept defeat! >> i will never accept defeat! i will never quit! >> i will never quit! >> i am an american soldier! >> i am an american soldier! after our country was viciously attacked in september of 2001, i enlisted in my state guard, the georgia state defense

force and i proudly served for more than eight years. but i am proud today to serve on the team with hln's robin meade, we have traveled to the national infantry museum near fort benning, georgia, to answer the questions of soldiers and their families about their wallets. why? so they can be as savvy about money as you are. i want to tell you something that is obvious to you, the country is in a really tough spot financially. we are in some difficult trouble with our economy. but i want to tell you something crazy. for those of you as young soldiers and families of young soldiers, today's economy actually gives you more opportunity than people who came before you. because everything that you need to do in order to build a financial future for yourself is cheaper now than it used to be.

and the greatest thing is as american fighting men and women, you have access to the nation's best long-term savings plan, the thrift savings plan. i want you to know that even though a lot of your relatives in civilian life and friends in civilian life are having a very difficult time financially, you are in a position to have an absolutely fantastic financial future. >> we have lieutenant jose elizabeth, right? and he wants to know about how much money you can save selling your house. what makes you ask that? >> today i'm seeing they're saying that soldiers were getting discounts on selling their houses. >> you want to know what kind of discounts there are for the military? >> there's a special program for soldiers that if you are, you are issued new orders for new duty station, and this was

signed by president obama this past winter, and you are transferred and you have a home that you can't sell for what you owe on it, the feds will absorb a portion of those losses. and depending on the amount that you would be upside-down on when you sell your home, the feds would either end up covering all of it or a substantial portion of your upside-down amount. and here we go, lieutenant, i have the actual, see my executive producer is so swift. the actual law is called the military home owners assistance program. and it was signed into law on february 17th. there are specific rules about who is eligible for compensation under the program. but it's cut-off date at sunset is duty station transfers through 2012. so it is there specifically so that you in service to our

country do not suffer hardship by, you don't choose to go to a new duty station. you don't say -- hey, i think i want to move -- you're told. and so you shouldn't suffer financial harm because of that. >> right behind him is staff sergeant derrick halabash. and somebody contacted him. when people contact you -- i don't know, my radar goes up. what do you mean they contacted you? about relief. what were they telling you about relief? >> they were saying they could refinance my home to about 4.8%, a third off. do you advise going with this? >> it's within reason that you could get a 30-year refinance right now -- from 4.75 peshs to about 5.25% you have solid credit for a 15-year refi right now, from just under 4%, maybe 3.875, to about 4.25. the question is never, can somebody really write you a loan at 4.75. the question is, what fees are

they going to charge you, in order to refi that loan. and what you want to do, if you get a quote from them, you just don't take a quote from them. you need quotes from others as well. and you want to divide them into three parts. part one is the interest rate that's all that anybody ever tells you about. second part is if they charge you what is known as points. each point is 1% of the amount of money you're borrowing. you know how many points you should pay on a refi? none. the third category is closing costs, closing costs go from here to here. and that's where a lot of lenders will say, they're like picking your pocket. while they're smiling at you. because they'll tell you, we're giving this great rate. but they charge you so much in closing costs, it's really not a great rate. so you need all three from anybody you get a quote from. but is it true you could get 4.75 right now? yes, it is. >> next on "clark howard" -- >> we have a brand new, 2008

truck, that has a very high interest rate in the near 20's, 20%. >> you don't! >> it just touches my heart because you know, we know that the men and women in the uniform sacrificed so much. but sometimes we don't really hear about the family stories and they sacrificed just as much.

all right so senior officer jeff torres is a candidate. you want to talk about investing in a certain plan. so let's ask about that. >> since becoming parents in the last year, my wife and i have been concerned with the forecast for higher education in about 17 years. forecasting about $300,000 we'll have to shell out. so what i've done for the first year is invested in my state's 529 plan.

i was wondering what your thoughts are about 529 plans or other state plans that i don't know about. >> it's a college savings plan, you put money into it all the money grows tax-free as long as the money is used for college. all the earnings are tax-free. so it is the absolute best vehicle to save for college. and so you're doing the right thing. what state plan are you in? >> virginia. and actually, we made a conscious decision to remain a virginia resident exclusively for their education benefits. >> let me tell you something about virginia. virginia is one of the states that has multiple 529 plans. and there are good 529 plans in virginia and bad ones. so i have a guide on my website which is clarkhoward.com, where you can do the hyperlink and make sure that the virginia plan you're in is the good one. not one of the bad ones.

>> this is colonel hall-boyer, she's retiring from the reserve about five years from retirement. and she has a question about coming up on retirement. >> good afternoon, sir. i'm actually going to be retiring from the army reserve next year sometime. and will retire from my civilian job. i'm projecting five or six years from then. >> when do you rest? >> right now, i'm resting. >> this is it, she's resting. >> i just got back from afghanistan and i'm on my way home. and this is a little rest stop here. but i have about five more working years that i'm going to invest. i don't get my reserve retirement until i'm 59 1/2. and but we'll still have extra money to invest during that time. what would be the best thing to look into for end of career type investments. >> okay. let me ask you a tough question.

if you quit working at 59 1/2, you know the odds are, you'll live maybe another 30 years or so. are you confident that you're going to have enough money five years from now, that you will be able to carry yourself the rest of your life? >> pending the market crash or, unless there's a market crash, i expect to have enough by the time i hit 60. >> so you feel comfortable that you are going to be able to bag work at 60, boom, you're done? >> well, i might not want to quit work. i still like to work. >> do you understand why i'm asking you the question? because i want to make sure that you are in a position and although i was talking with the young soldier about doing a roth account, for you, doing a roth is even better. because you're allowed to do what's known as catch-up. you can do an extra $1,000 a year, at $6,000 each year into a roth account. and i would do that for these next five years.

when military personnel are deployed overseas, often they leave behind a spouse and children who suddenly are having to deal with money issues stateside. i had the privilege of sitting down with one couple that's getting ready for an imminent overseas deployment. >> my name is private kevin lights and this is my beautiful wife, amanda lights, and this is our 2-week-old son, hunter lights. i'm 21. my wife is 19. i'm facing a deployment in about two weeks. >> how can i be of service to the two of you? >> i have a question. i know with the way the economy is and banks sort of changing the rules as far as things go. are there any banks still participating in the soldiers and sailors relief act? >> they don't have a choice. they have to. now why is that relevant in your case? >> my husband is deploying to north iraq in the next two weeks. so -- and we have a brand-new,

2008 truck that has a very high interest rate in the near 20's. 20%. >> you don't. what were you thinking? >> we were young when we got it and just we haven't refinanced yet. >> well you have two options because under the soldier and sailors relief act while you're deployed that will go down to 6%, you have to petition for it. the other thing is your credit is good? >> uh-huh. >> why don't you refi. >> we're looking at refi. >> ask them. they may require that you do some down payment, reduction in the loan balance in order for them to do it. but they'll mark it down if your credit's good. >> and i have one more question for you. i have two credit cards but i've been very leery with them if i put anything on by the time i get the statement, as soon as i get the statement i pay it off. how is that affecting my credit score. >> making it great.

>> that's the right thing to do. >> okay. >> learn from her. >> yes, sir. >> next on "clark howard" -- >> your e an example that you don't have to be someone toting a gun to be able to serve. >> would you want me toting a gun? let's take a vote. who wants me carrying a gun?

we were at an army post to show gratitude to the young men and women who put their lives on the line for our country. and to answer their questions and also those of retired military personnel about their wallets.

but i am joined by "new york times" bestselling author, robin meade. >> hi, clark. >> it feels pretty good to be on the "new york times" bestselling list. >> ever since that happened, i've been telling everybody i'm on the "new york times" bestselling list. >> i remember i was a habitat for humanity build. and i got a phone call that "the new york times" bestseller list had come out and i was on it. and it was amazing, let me tell you, i didn't do very well in english in high school and to be on the "new york times" bestseller list was quite a shock. >> i wonder, i was going to ask clark we just saw a group of soldiers march by and i wondered what was going on. >> we've just had a graduation ceremony for a new group of recruits and i was at the ceremony earlier today. and i want you to know, there's a massive grandstand that was 100% full with family and friends.

and they were standees, a couple of hundred standees because there was no more room for them. they were there to express their pride. and in a young soldier, a young family member who has chosen to put on the uniform of the united states army. >> nothing like it. >> and you have a long history of expressing gratitude to soldiers that is not based on some kind of pr puff thing. >> on the morning show on hln, "morning express with robin meade" every day we salute somebody. >> who is she? >> she is on "the new york times" best-seller list. >> exactly. every morning we do a salute to the troops, it's once an hour. and generally it can be somebody who is in the military. but you know who it generally is? it's family members who are generally missing their loved one, they might be deployed overseas, or at another base where they can't be.

>> i cannot tell you how much i miss my son. he had to leave his baby daughter, which was 2 weeks old to go and serve his country. >> he is the best husband, the best father. i tell him sometime i wish he was my dad. >> i love my husband so much. because he's able to put smiles on my children's faces. >> he is such an amazing husband and father, our 9-month-old daughter, kiley, misses her father so much. please be careful and come home safe. we love you so much. >> it touches my heart. we know that the men and women in uniform sacrifice so much. but we don't hear about the family stories and they sacrifice just as much. because for months at a time you're deployed. for months at a time someone back here is running the household.

>> you've been to a number of army posts, fort bragg, fort sam houston, fort campbell. >> doing different stories there. salute to troops in another form. fort sam houston, we were visiting amputees, people who were obviously in the service and then had something happen where they were amputees, that's a great facility there. fort bragg we were there doing a memorial day special. fort campbell we were there doing a veterans day special. >> and the soldiers are pretty excited to see you. no one's asked me why i'm in uniform. i saw you looking at my uniform and you couldn't figure out -- >> i was told, are you in the reserves? what do you do? >> i'm in the state guard. >> what does a state guardsman do? >> thank you for asking. there are 27 of the 50 states have state guards that are usually part of the same military structure as the national guard. and where national guardsmen deploy here in the united states or overseas.

state guardsmen only deploy within the 50 states. >> what job do you do? >> what do you think they have me do? they have me do public affairs. >> you talk, don't you? >> i enlisted right after the terrorist attacks. someone told me about the state guard and i was like, wow. i'm too old to go into regular army reserves or national guard. but this gave me an opportunity to serve. >> you look great. you look great and -- >> i would like on my website at clarkhoward.com i have a guide to all the states that have state guards. and how people can volunteer and enlist. >> but you're an example that you don't have to be someone toting a gun to be able to serve. >> would you want me toting a gun? let's take a vote who wants me carrying a gun? who wants me not carrying a gun? okay. not much faith in me carrying a gun.

>> your weapon is your information with finances and you help us. >> oh, very good.

>> i'm an american soldier! >> i'm an american soldier! i will never accept defeat! i will never accept defeat! i will never quit! i will never quit! i am an american soldier! i am an american soldier! welcome back to the national infantry museum in columbus, georgia, we're here with our brave fighting men and women who

i appreciate so much putting their lives on the line for our nation's freedom. we're here to take their questions about better ways to handle their dough. >> i'm way over here with staff sergeant isaac rios, thank you for your service. and he heard you talk about tsp. and he wants to know about some other good investments for -- like what? >> any other investment that you recommend to just get a little bit more money. >> if you have more money than -- >> let's say you already have the tsp. >> what other investments that you know about. >> i got it. >> all right. you got $5,000 for me right now? >> yeah. >> okay. good. because you can do -- >> everybody's head swivelled, they're like, ooh, where? let me see. >> who has the $5,000. you can do up to $5,000 each calendar year in an account called a roth. roth is my favorite savings vehicle. you put in this money, up to $5,000. and if you're married, you can

do five and five. you don't have to do five, that's just a ceiling. you put money into it, and listen to this, you never get taxed on that money. everything you earn on it, tax-free. when you spend it, you spend it tax-free. you can take money you got in savings, whatever it is, and put it into a roth account. and the tax-free advantage over time is gigantic. now when are you allowed to spend the money? when would you guess i'm going to let you spend the money? >> that was my next question. what can i spend -- >> 59 1/2. >> how old are you now? >> 33. >> so you would put this money into a roth, and you got to leave it in there for 26 years. but then everything that you have is your money to spend, dollar for dollar, government's

out of your life on taxing it. >> chrissie landmeter i'm sitting right beside her and you guys are doing some overseas psc move to germany. you only have two months to prepare. what question do you have financially? >> i wanted to know, there's some extra costs that are going to be incurring for an overseas move that will not be covered with our allowance. shipping our pet, things with our cars, multiple things we're coming across that we have to do. i was wondering instead of dipping into our savings, which do you think would be best way to cover these costs since we only have two months to prepare and we have to start doing that now? >> well actually this is the kind of circumstance that dipping into savings is appropriate. but that's what it's there for. but you said cars, shipping cars to germany? >> well we're shipping one, but like we have to do, there's things we have to do to the car before. new tires, all of these different things. >> and you're having to pay for the shipping of the car? >> we're not paying for the shipping, but the maintenance that needs to be done. the shipping of the pet.

we're going over the $1,000 mark and of course, i don't have that budgeted into the monthly budget. >> but you do have savings. >> see, because you have savings you're making the people right behind you very happy. because you actually have a way to pay for those expenses for relocation that are not covered. >> next on "clark howard." >> this is how much this guy loves saving money. and he's going to share a little bit of that with you. he uses one razor every six months. i'm not joking.

i'll be remiss if i didn't tell you this. my father in law and my father are both huge fans, any time we ask them any sort of financial advice -- they always say, well clark howard says -- so we hear that a lot. so we had to tell you, they're huge fans and they really like what you do. >> thank you. >> on my way back from iraq just before i redeployed to the states, i bought a harley. and i paid half off, i paid the nine grand, i decided to take a loan out for the other nine to build my credit. i was wondering, would it be smart of me to refinance my, the loan? or just let it ride out and keep paying payments, i'm not having any problems paying it off. >> what interest rate is the harley loan at? >> the interest rate is 4.69%. >> there's no refi i would really do. that's a fantastic rate is that subsidized by harley? or is that from the credit union? >> andrews federal credit union.

>> smart man. before we go on, i need a show of hands, who has already joined the credit union? >> all right now want to tell you something -- i need next time i come here, whatever duty station you're at and i ask that question, i want that hand up in the air. because you're missing a real opportunity. you heard that 4.69%. credit unions are so great at virtually every military installation, that you could be assigned to. you're going to have access to a credit union. if you're not familiar with why it's so great to be in one, if you go to a bank and open an account, you are helping to fund the profits for the stockholders of that bank. on the other hand, if you go to a credit union and open an account, you become an owner of the credit union, and everything they do and everything they offer, is so that you get a better deal on loans, savings

and checking. so -- by the time we're done today, i hope that everybody will raise their hands and say they're a credit union member. >> all right. specialist greg frye is right here. and he has a question about something that i have seen on the commercials again and again. >> clark, what is the best way to invest in gold? >> other than turning in your wife's jewelry and stuff like that? >> first, any of those ads you see on tv from all of these people who buy your jewelry and all that? run away. run away, not to them. second, buying gold is tough. because when you buy actual gold, you have to pay a commission to buy it, you have to pay a commission to sell it. and then let's say you put real money into gold. let's say you take all your savings and you put it into gold. gold is something people want to steal. so then you got to pay to lock it up.

so -- then anything i like about buying actual gold, but there's a trick way to buy it. that's easy and cheap, if gold is what you want to have. you can buy ownership in gold like you buy a stock. and it's called an etf, an exchange-traded fund, which sounds complicated, but it's not. and you pay a company to buy gold for you. they store it for you in a vault. and then when you choose to sell it, you can sell it right away at whatever market price is. it's really, really easy to do. and it saves you a fortune. and you have the same thing owning gold. >> one of the most difficult transitions for military personnel is reassignment to a new duty location. well, there are lot of money issues that come up with that. and i visited with one couple that had a lot of questions for me. >> hi, i'm captain john burns and this is my beautiful wife may. >> hi. >> i've been in the army for

about three years now, 3 1/2 years and i've had one deployment to baghdad, iraq for 15 months during the surge in 2007-2008. >> we're trying to buy a house in the near future. maybe a year or two, two years. >> and are going to be deployed where in america? >> maybe stationed in fort bragg in about the next six months after i get done here at benning. >> a permanent duty station? what question do's you have about buying a house? >> we won't have a down payment, just a v.a. loan or something, or should we wait maybe a year, rent for a while and put a decent-sized savings away that we can put a down payment on the home? >> there is no right answer to that. if you buy a home pretty quickly under a va loan, the advantage to that side of it is that the housing market won't have recovered by six months from now. let's say you waited 18 months, 24 months to have substantial downpayment. there may have started to be a meaningful recovery to the

housing market. even though i love people to pay substantial down payment, in your circumstance, when you get to bragg, i would look at buy ing a home there before the market recovers. but especially if you find one that's a real deal. next on "clark howard" -- >> nobody knows how to get a bargain at sam's club, are you serious? >> i mean you can actually ask for a bargain? >> no, there's something you look for.

sergeant first class kevin simpson, if you don't mind standing up here. really this must be a good time for him to ask this question, yeah. >> how you doing, clark? >> great, thank you. >> the question i have is, i'm thinking about buying a house, i'm retiring in about seven years and the question about buying a house is either buying a house or building a house. and i'm thinking about buying land. trying to figure out what's the best way to invest in buying in land.

>> i would prefer if you will consider buying a house instead of buying land. and here's why -- in the real estate slump, what's happened is that houses are selling for less than replacement cost. which means that what you pay to buy a house right now is cheaper than it costs sticks-up to build. so you might get a real deal on the land. but then you decide to build your own house now or later, if you were to build the house now, at least you'd get good prices from builders and better prices on materials, because the market's not in great shape. but your best deal is buying a house that somebody has just got to sell, because you can buy it at a fraction of what it would cost to make. >> marie brooks might be your favorite person here today. she said what's the best way to be debt-free before retiring. when are you going to be retiring?

>> two years from the army reserve and two to five years from civil service. >> so the question is what kind of debts do you have that you're trying to get your arms around? >> i want to get around to paying off the house and having just house and utilities by the time i retire. >> well, paying off your home mortgage is not always a priority. the big priority is paying off any unsecured debt. personal loans, credit cards, then next would be car loans. but home mortgage debt is not a high priority with me. it's more important that you beef up your savings than it is to be mortgage debt-free. it's psychological for people to want to be mortgage debt-free on the day they retire. i'm not that much into that because your house isn't going to feed you money. you're going to feed yourself from the money that you have saved. >> clark, what about i've heard other financial analysts who aren't half as good as you, may i just add. when they say, yeah, that you're paying off your mortgage should be a priority because that way

you're never homeless. >> well that is a good point. but i'm more concerned about people who retire, don't have enough money, don't have enough cash to pay for everyday things and they, it's an empty victory that they own their house free and clear. >> this is how much this guy loves saving money. and he's going to share a little bit of that with you. he uses one razor every six months. i'm not joking. and he is has figured out how you make that razor last. so maybe in the field this will help you. >> the secret to making a blade last that long is yours for free if you buy robin meade's new "new york times" bestselling book. no, the secret is believe it or not, whether you use a mach iii, a turbo, whatever, whatever blade you use, dry it after you use it.

a blade does not deteriorate from shaving you. it does not deteriorate from a guy's beard or shaving a woman's leg. it only deteriorates from the moisture. so if you dry a blade, you're fine. now just before i found out about this, i had gone to a warehouse club and they had 35 packs of razors on clearance. i have 70 of these things i bought, now, i used two blades a year. so that means i have a 35-year supply of razors. i got to make it to 89 years old before i need to buy my next one. >> now that's saving money. >> anybody know the secret pricing codes at sam's club? >> really? does it have to do with what level card you are? >> no. nobody knows how to get a bargain at sam's club? are you serious? >> you mean you can actually ask

for a bargain? >> no, there's something you look for. when you're walking around sam's, anything that ends in one cent has been marked down. they don't do sales because they don't want anybody to wait for things to be reduced in price. so for internal use, if you see something that ends in $52.31. that means before it may have been $89.99. so you want -- when i walk around sam's -- i was in sam's yesterday. and i walked the floor. and i go aisle to aisle, looking at the merchandise. i look to see what's ending in one penny. and then i look to see if i want it. and that's how i shop there. >> how did you learn that? how did you find that out? >> it's my job to know stuff like that. anybody ever been in a costco wholesale? >> yeah. >> nobody's been in a costco? >> oh, honey, i live there. >> costco, anybody know the

system at costco? they have a similar thing. didn't know that either? 97 cents. anything that ends in 97 cents has been marked down below cost. so those are the times you're getting something that's a real, cost. those are the times you're getting something that's a real, real deal. i have with me officer candidate and his wife. it's good to see you. who do you have in your arms here? >> this is audry. >> who is in your arms? >> bella. >> how are you, honey. how old are you? >> 4. >> i understand that you might be going to harvard some day and that's expensive. >> yeah. >> that is what you want to know about, right, is how you are going to pay for these two in college. tell me what you've been trying to process what you're going to do here because pretty expensive for two of them in college.

>> absolutely. right now we're just kind of looking at just saving as much as we can but we're trying to figure out what options are out there to, you know, save more to get the most bang for our buck. >> the big thing is that i always want to make sure that the two of you are saving for yourselves first. your first step is to put up to $5,000 for each of you into a roth each year. if you still have more money you want to save, then you can open one of the college 529 plans. one of the 529 savings plans. you start by saving for yourself because the roth has the double flexibility that if they end up getting scholarships or whatever it is, you don't need any money for college, but you still need it for retirement. >> perfect. thank you. >> does that make sense? >> absolutely. thank you so much. next --

>> you want the car but your neighbors and your friends are laughing at you about because some day you're going to be saying am i going to go play golf over there or over there and they're getting in their car and they're going to work.

the mother of a missing girl charged with human trafficking and it's not the only crime she's accused of. still no sign of shaniya davis. they've been held at guantanamo bay in cuba. now suspected terrorists could be headed to a much colder climate here in the u.s. plus -- remind us to please come home. let's go pack a box. >> how you can lift the spirits of some of our troops fighting overseas. hln "news and views." hello. i'm holly firfer. we learned where some of the terrorism suspects held at the

guantanamo bay detention center may go when they're transferred to the u.s. for trial. this prison in northern illinois is a leading contender to house those detainees. it's 150 miles west of chicago in the small town of thompson. the prison is described as state of the art and virtually empty. the federal government found it suitable. illinois senator dick durbin said the decision would provide thousands of jobs. we have a chance to bring 2,000 good paying jobs with benefits to this region. jobs that are going to reward the people that go to work and come home with paychecks that will help build their business and communities growing with more schools, more hospitals, more libraries. opportunities that you just

don't see. >> a republican lawmaker from chicago claims that transfer would invite terrorists attacks on illinois. there have not been any terrorists attacks on guantanamo bay in the eight years detainees have been held there and the thompson prison would be more secure than the nation's supermax federal prison in colorado. the obama administration is defending the decision to hold civilian trials for terrorists including khalid shaikh mohammed. former new york mayor rudy giuliani says putting the suspects on trial in new york puts the city's residents at risk. a civilian trial will lead to evidentiary hurdles you won't see in a military tribunal. >> if we're looking at something like a confession, the standard

for admitting a confession in a civilian trial is that it must be voluntary and that the defendant must be advised of his rights. are any of us to believe that these cia interrogators when they were softening up khalid shaikh mohammed were at the same time reading him his miranda rights and telling him he had a right to remain silent and have an attorney present. we know that didn't happen. that will create a roadblock in terms of getting in confessions. >> family members of the 9/11 victims are divide over the prospect of a civilian trial. some say they're optimistic that justice will be done but others say bringing the terror suspects to new york will cause unbearable pain. they say a military tribunal is more appropriate. >> bringing khalid shaikh mohammed and putting him in a civilian trial is absolutely the wrong thing to do. by doing this you are taking his actions out of the realm of being an act of warfare and calling it a crime.

this was not a crime. this is far beyond a crime. it's on act of warfare. >> i trust my justice system, the constitution which has been enforced in the last 200 years and i want them tried at home. my son was murdered here. i want to see them go to trial here and i want to attend each and every single day. >> the economic summits are over but president obama will still be talking money in the latest stop of his tour of asia. he arrived in shanghai today. during his time in china, president obama will likely discuss trade issues with the chinese president and hold a town hall style meeting. he also plans to take a side trip to the great wall. earlier in the day president obama met with russia's president. the leaders are working on replacing a treaty to reduce nuclear arms set to expire next month. >> in our first meeting when i traveled to moscow, we arrived

at an understanding that it made sense for our two countries to begin reducing further our nuclear stockpiles, our negotiators have made excellent progress over the last several months. our goal continues to be to complete the negotiations and to be able to sign a deal before the end of the year. i'm confident that if we work hard and with a sense of urgency about it we should be able to get that done. >> the president has arranged for the united states to host the apec summit in hawaii in 2011. he'll get to dictate what gets where for the summit's official picture. in singapore they wore mandarin colored shirts. mr. obama said he's looking ford to seeing leaders in colored shirts and grass skirts. 1 billion people around the

world are facing starvation. the world food program launched an online campaign called billion for a billion. it's aimed at stamping out hunger. here's the idea. the billion internet users donated a dollar a week. the lives of a billion people around the world could be changed. on the right side of the page a string of numbers representing what's happened since the page was loaded. you can see millions of e-mails sent, thousands of facebook updates and thousands of dollars spent on pet food. you can also see the number of children who have died of hunger within just the last few seconds. go to wfp.org/1 million and you can see it for yourself. a stunning new development in the disappearance of 5-year-old shaniya davis. police in fayetteville, north carolina, have charged her mother with human trafficking. antoinette davis also faces a child abuse charge including prostitution and filing a false report. she's shown here alongside a man police have charged with

kidnapping the child. they say he's a suspect captured on a hotel surveillance video carrying the girl into a room the day she was reported missing. authorities still don't know where the girl is. last thursday they arrested davis' boyfriend, but have since dropped kidnapping charges against clarence coe. bay area police are still looking for an 18-month-old child who has been missing since his mother was killed early friday. searchers scoured aquatic park in berkeley looking for jashon williams. his mother's body was found in that park. police are holding curtis martin in connection with the woman's death. her family and friends say it's possible the child was with her, but they haven't seen him in a couple weeks. >> any time you want to see the baby, there's some kind of excuse. >> some kind of excuse as if something was keeping the baby away or somebody had the baby or just something. >> she told me she hasn't seen the baby in two weeks.

she said that he was with curtis. >> police say the suspect has an extensive criminal history and served six years for killing a child. two more victims of a suspected serial killer were laid to rest yesterday. they were among 11 women whose remains were found in a house in cleveland. fbi agents four hours on saturday with rakes and shovels to see if anymore bodies might be in anthony sowell's backyard. sowell is a convicted sex offender. he's in jail now facing murder, rape and other charges. authorities say sowell used drugs and alcohol to lure women to his home and then strangled them. when rival gangs come face to face in chicago, the result is often deadly. but a cease-fire summit created a break from the gun play. hear one gang member tell why he thought it was a step in the right direction.

wow. it's going to take months to clean up this mess on a mountain road in southeastern tennessee. two separate rock slides in a single day dumped at least 12,000 cubic yards of granite on u.s. 64. before that cleanup can start, work crews are going to have to shore up the mountain side to make sure there aren't anymore rock slides. dennis flew over the rock side on friday and we just got his pictures of the scene. he says it's hard to put into words the magnitude of the slide. during the cleanup the highway will remain closed meaning people will have to detour 100 miles around that bottleneck. the governor of virginia visited areas of a state hit hard by a nor'easter. governor tim kaine assured storm victims he would push for federal money to help them recover.

he also said he would try to free up state funds as well. nearly 8 inches of rain drenched coastal city of norfolk. officials are waiting for floodwaters to recede before they can assess that damage. teens on chicago's deadly streets are being asked are neighborhood beefs really worth dying over? a peace summit brought together two gangs from chicago's south side. many gang members blame their ongoing feud for sparking a brawl that killed 16-year-old derrion albert back in october. three teens pleaded not guilty to the deadly beating but the goal of yesterday's summit stopped the violence and start talking. >> to me, it's hard. everybody's gang bagging and everybody shooting, everybody hustling. you know what i'm saying? you got people doing a little bit of everything. you have to find out where you fit in. i took a step, you know. >> organizers for the summit say they had to get the teens out of the environment to get them to talk.

grief in two california communities today after two crashes this weekend. a medical helicopter dropped off a patient at a reno hospital and was returned to california when it went down. the pilot issued a may day seconds before the chopper crashed in a fireball. the pilot, a flight nurse and a paramedic were killed. the pilot of a small plane died when his single engine aircraft went down in san gabriel. he was trying to make an emergency landing in the parking lot but the plane skidded across the street and slammed into a wall and caught fire. hundreds of people marked a somber anniversary. a plane crash killed most of the school's football team in what is an annual event a memorial fountain was shut off and won't be turned on until spring. >> this is a symbol and beacon for what can happen when people

pull together as a community, rise above adversity and tragedy and find triumph and success. >> a charter jet crashed on the way home from a game. tlc for the troops. soldiers and moms team up to let american forces in iraq and afghanistan know we're thinking of them.

in denver the high temperature only about 33 degrees and you could see between 6 and 10 inches of snowfall in denver. pretty much across the central rockies about a foot of snowfall maybe higher peaks about 2 feet. southern california, gusty winds thanks to a ridge of high pressure further to the north and low pressure system right over the four corners region. across the deep south, temperatures running 10 to 15 degrees above where they should be for this time of year. in the meantime, what we're

watching is what remains from what used to be the nor'easter exiting toward the canadian maritimes. i want to show you how gorgeous it is around new york city. beautiful view of central park if you're headed there enjoy the nice weather. temperatures expected in the 60s. for hln, i'm meteorologist karen maginnis. our ireporters catch a lot of great stories, and sometimes they also show us how we can make a difference in someone's life. now, cnn ireporter chris morrow talked to one soldier as he helped a group of moms in california send a little tlc to troops serving in afghanistan and iraq. >> i get a lot of oohs and ahhs and things like "i really needed something like this" or "this is so great." of course, we realize the effort that goes into packing these boxes, the expense of mailing

these overseas but it's the care and the love that's coming from home to remind us, please come home. let's go pack a box. we have magazines. batteries, these are a big hit. cards to send home. how about some movies and some music? our female soldiers will love this. shower shoes, very important. never leave home without your shower shoes. i don't know why, but some guys really like the sardines. the army moves on coffee. have to have your coffee. >> every soldier needs some jerky. the best. >> great to carry on patrol. got to have your beef jerky and with your movie you have to have popcorn. my box is full now, but, as you've been able to see from all the various assortment of items that are here, that there are cameras and cookies and chips and just, you know, body lotion,

body powder, brushes, toothbrushes and so many things and each box is different. so none of them are the same. we're ready now to pack this box up and send her out. this is letter here. it says "dear soldier, i'm writing to tell you that i thank you and love you. you are the best. please come home safe. love" and it looks like it's william or wilton. i encourage all people, those who aren't able to serve, to get involved in some kind of volunteer or community action to support our military, support our troops that are overseas. they deserve it. they work hard. when they come home with a lot of transitional things that go on. so again, for our soldiers overseas, get involved. it's part of our country. it's what makes us great.

>> if you'd like to help out, you can go to the blue star mothers website at bluestarmothers.org. and you can find a list of chapters close to you. and once again, we want to say thanks to ireporter chris morrow for that great report. when you have images of breaking news or cool stories from your part of the world, head to ireport.com. click on upload now link and you'll find easy instructions there. construction of the aircraft carrier "gerald r. ford" got its kickoff yesterday with a keel-laying ceremony. the carrier is named for the former president and is the first in a new ford class of carriers. ford's daughter, susan ford bayles was at the ceremony and declared the keel truly and fairly laid. it is scheduled for delivery to the navy in 2015. the price of fame can be high, but the price of being infamous even higher. wait until you hear how much

bidders were willing to pay for items related to convicted swindler bernie madoff. >> hi, there. i'm robin meade. we submit the troops every day on "morning express" with me, robin meade. we're doing it on the weekend as well. this is for an army specialist. his mom says cory has a lot of love in his heart, they miss him and everyone is looking forward to his wedding next september. >> hi, robin. this is angela out of texas. specialist cory's mom. i'm proud of my son for representing his country. i want to tell my son to be strong and stay safe and let him know that i love him very much. >> angela, thank you. if you have someone in the service, go to cnn.com/robin and then watch the salutes every morning on "morning express" with me, robin meade, from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. eastern. @@@

the mother of a missing girl charged with human trafficking and it's not the only crime she's accused of. but still no sign of 5-year-old shaniya davis. they've been held at guantanamo bay in cuba. now some of these suspected terrorists could be headed to a much colder climate here in the u.s. plus -- >> the care and love coming from home to remind us please come home. let's go pack a box. >> how you can lift the spirits of some of our troops fighting overseas. hln "news and views." hello. i'm holly firfer. we learned where some of the terrorism suspects held at the guantanamo bay detention center

may go when they're transferred to the u.s. for trial. this prison in northern illinois is a leading contender to house those detainees. it's 150 miles west of chicago in the small town of thompson. illinois governor pat quinn describes the prison as state of the art and virtually empty. the federal government offered it as an alternative to gitmo and the federal government found it suitable. illinois senator dick durbin said the decision would provide thousands of jobs. we have a chance to bring 2,000 good paying jobs with benefits to this region. jobs that are going to reward the people that go to work and come home with paychecks that will help create businesses and communities will will grow with more schools, more hospitals, more libraries. opportunities that you just don't see. >> a republican lawmaker from

chicago claims that transfer would invite terrorists attacks on illinois. there have not been any terrorists attacks on guantanamo bay in the eight years detainees have been held there and the administration officials say the thompson prison would be more secure than the nation's supermax federal prison in colorado. the obama administration is defending the controversial decision to hold civilian trials for terrorists including khalid shaikh mohammed. white house senior adviser david axelrod tells cnn just will be done. former new york mayor rudy giuliani says putting the suspects on trial in new york puts the city's residents at risk. an attorney experienced in civil and military law says a civilian trial will lead to evidentiary hurdles you won't see in a military tribunal. >> if we're looking at something like a confession, the standard for admitting a confession in a

civilian trial is that it must be voluntary and that the defendant must be advised of his rights. are any of us to believe that these cia interrogators when they were softening up khalid shaikh mohammed were at the same time reading him his miranda rights and telling him he had a right to remain silent and have an attorney present. we know that didn't happen. that will create a roadblock in terms of getting in confessions. >> family members of the 9/11 victims are deeply divided over the prospect of a civilian trial. some say they're optimistic that justice will be done but others say bringing the terror suspects to new york will cause unbearable pain. they say a military tribunal is more appropriate. >> bringing khalid shaikh mohammed and putting him in a civilian trial is absolutely the wrong thing to do. by doing this you are taking his actions out of the realm of being an act of warfare and calling it a crime. this was not a crime.

this is far beyond a crime. it's on act of warfare. >> i trust my justice system, the constitution which has been enforced in the last 230 years. and i want them tried at home. my son was murdered here. i want to see them go to trial here and i want to attend each and every single day. >> the economic summits are over but president obama will still be talking money in the latest stop of his tour of asia. he arrived in shanghai today. during his time in china, president obama will likely discuss trade issues with the chinese president and hold a town hall style meeting. the president also plans to take a side trip to the great wall. earlier in the day president obama met with russia's president in singapore. they were there for two economic forums involving the asia pacific region. the leaders are working on replacing a treaty to reduce nuclear arms set to expire next month. >> in our first meeting when i traveled to moscow, we arrived

at an understanding that it made sense for our two countries to begin reducing further our nuclear stockpiles, our negotiators have made excellent progress over the last several months. our goal continues to be to complete the negotiations and to be able to sign a deal before the end of the year. i'm confident that if we work hard and with a sense of urgency about it we should be able to get that done. a stunning new development in the disappearance of 5-year-old shaniya davis. police have charged her mother with human trafficking. antoinette davis also faces a child abuse charge including prostitution and filing a false report. she is shown here alongside a man police have charged with kidnapping the child. they say mario mcneill is the suspect caught on a hotel surveillance video caught

carrying the girl into a hotel room. last thursday they arrested davis' boyfriend but since dropped kidnapping charges against clarence coe. bay area police are still looking for an 18-month-old child missing since his mother was killed early friday. searchers scoured aquatic park in berkeley looking for him. his mother's body was found in that park. police are holding curtis martin in connection with the woman's death. it's possible the child was with her but they haven't seen him in a couple of weeks. >> any time you want to see the baby, there's some kind of excuse. >> some kind of excuse as if something was keeping the baby away or somebody had the baby or just something. >> she told me she hasn't seen the baby in two weeks. she said that he was with curtis. >> police say the suspect has an extensive criminal history and served six years for killing a child. two more victims of a suspected serial killer were

laid to rest yesterday. they were among 11 women whose remains were found in a house in cleveland. fbi agents four hours on saturday with thermal imaging device devices, rakes and shovels to see if anymore bodies might be in anthony sowell's backyard. sowell is a convicted sex offender. he's in jail now facing murder, rape and other charges. authorities say sowell used drugs and alcohol to lure women to his home and then strangled them. cnn's vital signs looks at the world of medicine around the world. dr. sanjay gupta shares the story of a woman fighting widespread misunderstanding of a disease that most people don't want to talk about. >> cancer has four stages of disease. the majority of us black people come for treatment when we are

already at stage 3 or stage 4. very close to death. it is your education that with will save your life. stand up. >> reporter: a woman from south africa is the embodiment of hope and vitality in the face of cancer. she's a vocal breast cancer survivor. a rarity in south africa's black community where breast disease is a major taboo subject. today she's speaking to secondary schoolchildren. both girls and boys. in a country where women offer defer their health care choices to their husbands, she feels including boys will promote support for women down the road. >> for more on this and other exciting advances in medicine, go to our website. cnn.com/vitalsigns.

wow. it's going to take months to clean up this mess on a mountain road in southeastern tennessee. two separate rock slides in a single day dumped at least 12,000 cubic yards of granite on u.s. 64. before that cleanup can start, work crews are going to have to shore up the mountain side to make sure there aren't anymore rock slides. an i-reporter flew over the rock slide on friday and we just got his pictures of the scene. he says it's hard to put into words the magnitude of the slide. during the cleanup the highway will remain closed meaning people will have to detour 100 miles around that bottleneck.

teens on chicago's deadly streets are being asked are neighborhood beefs really worth dying over? a peace summit brought together two gangs from chicago's south side. many gang members blame their ongoing feud for sparking a brawl that killed 16-year-old deron albert back in september. three teens pleaded not guilty to the deadly beating but the goal of yesterday's summit stop the vinls violence and start talking. >> to me, it's hard. everybody's gang bagging and everybody shooting, everybody hustling. you know what i'm saying? you got people doing a little bit of everything. you have to find out where you fit in. i took a step, you know. >> organizers for the summit say they had to get the teens out of the environment to get them to talk. the president arranged for the united states to host the apec summit in hawaii in 2011.

that means he gets to dictate what leaders wear for the picture. president obama says he's looking forward to seeing leaders decked out in flowered shirts and grass skirts. for the first time in history, 1 billion people around the world are facing starvation. the united nations created a high tech way to help. the u.n. world food program launched an online campaign called a billion for a billion aimed at stamping out hunger. the billion internet users donated a dollar a week, the lives of a billion people around the world could be changed. on the right side of the page, a string of numbers represent what's happened since the page was loaded. you can see millions of e-mails sent, thousands of facebook updates and thousands of dollars spent on pet food. you can also see the number of children who died of hunger within just the last few

seconds. go to wfp.org/onebillion and see it for yourself. grief in two california communities today after two tragic aircraft crashes this weekend. a medical helicopter dropped off a patient at a reno hospital and was returning to california when it went down. investigators say the pilot issued a may day seconds before the chopper crashed in a fireball. the pilot, a flight nurse and a paramedic were killed. the pilot of a small plane died when his single engine aircraft went down in san gabriel. he was trying to make an emergency landing in the parking lot but the plane skidded across the street and slammed into a wall and caught fire. hundreds of people marked a somber anniversary. this was at marshall university in west virginia. 39 years ago yesterday, a plane crash killed most of the school's football team in what is an annual event a memorial fountain was shut off and won't be turned back on until spring.

>> this is a symbol and beacon for what can happen when people pull together as a community, rise above adversity and tragedy and find triumph and success. >> a charter jet carrying the team crashed on the way home from a game. tlc for the troops. soldiers and moms team up to let american forces in iraq and afghanistan know we're thinking of them.

in denver the high temperature only about 33 degrees and you could see between 6 and 10 inches of snowfall in denver. pretty much across the central rockies about a foot of snowfall maybe higher peaks about 2 feet. southern california, gusty winds thanks to a ridge of high pressure further to the north and low pressure system right over the four corners region. across the deep south, temperatures running 10 to 15 degrees above where they should be for this time of year. in the meantime, what we're watching is what remains from what used to be the nor'easter exiting toward the canadian maritimes. i want to show you how gorgeous it is around new york city. beautiful view of central park

if you're headed there enjoy the nice weather. temperatures expected in the 60s. for hln, i'm meteorologist karen maginnis. the powerful storm battered new jersey for the third straight day yesterday. that didn't help people trying to repair storm damage. the storm is blamed for at least six deaths in three states. our ireporters catch a lot of great stories, and sometimes they also show us how we can make a difference in someone's life. now, cnn ireporter chris morrow talked to one soldier as he helped a group of moms in california send a little tlc to troops serving in afghanistan and iraq. >> i get a lot of oohs and ahhs and things like "i really needed something like this" or "this is so great." of course, we realize the effort

that goes into packing these boxes, the expense of mailing these overseas but it's the care and the love that's coming from home to remind us, please come home. let's go pack a box. we have magazines. batteries, these are a big hit. cards to send home. how about some movies and some music? our female soldiers will love this. shower shoes, very important. never leave home without your shower shoes. i don't know why, but some guys really like the sardines. the army moves on coffee. have to have your coffee. >> every soldier needs some jerky. the best. >> great to carry on patrol. got to have your beef jerky and with your movie you have to have popcorn. my box is full now, but, as

you've been able to see from all the various assortment of items that are here, that there are cameras and cookies and chips and just, you know, body lotion, body powder, brushes, toothbrushes and so many things and each box is different. so none of them are the same. we're ready now to pack this box up and send her out. this is letter here. it says "dear soldier, i'm writing to tell you that i thank you and love you. you are the best. please come home safe. love" and it looks like it's from william or wilton. i encourage all people, those who aren't able to serve, to get involved in some kind of volunteer or community action to support our military, support our troops that are overseas. they deserve it. they work hard. when they come home with a lot

of transitional things that go on. so again, for our soldiers overseas, get involved. it's part of our country. it's what makes us great. >> if you'd like to help out, you can go to the blue star mothers website at bluestarmothers.org. and you can find a list of chapters close to you. and once again, we want to say thanks to ireporter chris morrow for that great report. when you have images of breaking news or cool stories from your part of the world, head to ireport.com. click on upload now link and you'll find easy instructions there. construction of the aircraft carrier "gerald r. ford" got its kickoff yesterday with a keel-laying ceremony. the carrier is named for the former president and is the first in a new ford class of carriers. ford's daughter, susan ford bayles was at the ceremony and declared the keel truly and fairly laid. it is scheduled for delivery to the navy in 2015. the price of fame can be high, but the price of being infamous even higher.

wait until you hear how much bidders were willing to pay for items related to convicted swindler bernie madoff. y8